Session 3 semi-report
Overview
There are two stories to tell here, one for each party.
The early group played really well, I have to say. They intervened when Lonjiku Kaijitsu came to argue with his daughter, Ameiko, and made a decent fist of handling what was a delicate situation. They had no trouble dealing with the goblin hiding in the Barret family's closet, and then made arrangements for the survivors to be looked after by Father Zantus. Beyond that, I can't say too much, since the late group has some catching up to do in the story. I can say that they took care of the important things and rolled really well. I felt bad at the end because they were being thorough, asking all the right questions, and I couldn't tell them everything they wanted to know.
Some members of the late group (particularly Sydney) wanted to get involved with the Kaijitsu altercation, but were persuaded not to by their companions. They let the situation play out on its own, but did at least try to console Ameiko once her father had left. They took a bit longer killing the goblin in the closet, but it was only afterwards that their troubles really started. More on that below.
Loffrey (Keveh Kins), Silver (Kuroto) Romsa (Monterosa), Drea (AvecAloes) and Fenrion (ForceStealer) took part in the early session, while Sydney (Warrior of Light), Milton (Adam), Delora (Starling) and Calideon (Joe) played in the late session.
The Lie
Calideon, the Little Shit (now by common consensus), thought Amele Barret needed to be protected from learning her husband's fate. Regardless of whatever good intentions he may have had, it was an inevitability that she would find out the truth sooner or later, so I don't really know why he chose to lie. As the GM, I ruled his version of events "far-fetched", since Alergast had been in his son's bedroom since the previous night, and would surely have made his way out if he had still, you know, had any skin on his face or chest. That gave him a -10 penalty, but he lucked out on his Bluff roll, ending up with a modified 26 before the penalty, successfully convincing poor old Amele to not only believe him, but start making him some food while the other party members "cleaned up" the bedroom.
Being a paladin, Sydney couldn't stand by while Calideon committed such a deception, so he approached Amele and started to explain the truth, in the most sensitive way she could manage. Before she could deliver the fateful news, however, Delora shouted "he's dead!" from the adjacent room. Amele rushed inside to see the situation for herself, only to find Delora standing over her dead husband, with Milton skinning the family's beloved dog, Petal, in front of them. She promptly fainted.
At that point, what the group needed more than anything else was to stick together, but instead, they fell apart. Milton finished skinning Petal. Sydney started to give a "man of the house" speech to Aeren, the family's eight-year-old boy. Delora then helped Sydney to bury Alergast's body outside, while Milton and Calideon somehow got it into their heads that there was a basement in the house that needed investigating. The basement turned out to be the master bedroom, where they put Amele to rest for a while.
When Amele came to, Milton decided it would be a good idea to cast a Charm Person spell on her to make her friendly towards them. Sydney intervened, however, stopping Milton just in time. Milton left the room as Sydney tried to explain the situation, but Amele panicked, rushed out to pick up her children, and fled the house.
Worse was to come.
The Arrest
Sydney went to the cathedral to whip himself in atonement, while the remaining three-quarters of the group returned to the tavern (because why not?). Amele, on the other hand, went straight to the town's sheriff, Belor Hemlock, who promptly arrived at the Rusty Dragon with six guards in tow. He marched Milton, Calideon and Delora to the garrison to investigate the charges against them, which included the possible murder of Alergast Barett.
It didn't take long for the group to point out that Sydney should be arrested as well - what are friends for, after all? Hemlock sent three guards out to look for him, but when he learnt of his companions' arrest, he turned himself in.
Amele recounted her version of the events, and Delora was handed the responsibility of speaking for the group. Their solidarity didn't last long, however, as Amele started to turn the blame onto Milton and Calideon in particular. Calideon tried bluffing his way out of the situation again, but the sheriff saw through him. With further evidence required, Sydney and Delora accompanied Hemlock to the scene of the crime while the other two were remanded in custody. After digging up Alergast's body, it became clear that it had, in fact, been a goblin that killed him, removing the most serious charge against the group, but leaving charges of theft (for taking the dog pelt), attempting to cast a spell on a non-consenting citizen, and perverting the course of justice (for lying to the sheriff in the investigation).
Returning to the garrison, Hemlock had more questions for Milton and Sydney. Milton explained that he had been casting a spell of Cure Light Wounds on Amele, thinking she was wounded. He succeeded with a Bluff check, but it was a close enough call that the sheriff wanted final proof, in the form of a demonstration of the spell in question. Milton, not actually knowing how to cast it, cast Resistance instead, counting on the fact that the sheriff couldn't tell the difference. He was right, but there was someone else in the room who
could tell the difference - Calideon, himself a sorcerer. Just as it looked like Hemlock was about to release Milton, Calideon opened his mouth to say, "that didn't look like a Cure Light Wounds spell to me!". Hemlock sighed and said he would have to get Father Zantus to identify the magic the following day.
Zantus was very disappointed to learn of Milton and Calideon's actions, since they had been so helpful in defending the cathedral from the goblin raid, and had established a good reputation in the town. Milton wisely confessed that he couldn't cast Cure Light Wounds, and Zantus appreciated his honesty. Zantus said he wanted Milton to give up his greedy ways, and to attend services at his cathedral every Sunday, staying behind for one-on-one chats afterwards. Milton agreed.
He then turned to Calideon and expressed regret that such a young boy (Calideon is 12) had fallen from a righteous path. Calideon could only apologise. Being a "chaotic good" person, Zantus decided that the pair of them should be given second chances, even if that meant bending the truth in his explanation to the sheriff.
The sheriff let Milton go, with only a reprimand for stealing the dog pelt, but said that Calideon's charge of lying when under investigation was a more serious matter, that couldn't just be forgotten. He said Calideon could leave if he agreed to enter the town's service, attending their orphanage and undergoing training to join the Sandpoint Watch until he reached adulthood and demonstrated that he had matured. Calideon was left with no choice but to agree to this deal.
The Rest
After all that, I wasn't entirely sure how to pick up the main story again. Since I was really tired from a poor night's sleep, I decided to end the session early to give myself time to think about it. I already have some idea of how I can piece things together again. Next week's early session will be a short one, and the late session will be a longer one to let them catch up.
As for the other group, their antics didn't exactly match up to what I've described above (thank god). There was something about a possible romantic encounter between two of their number, but everyone was drunk, so who knows what really happened?
Titles Awarded
I'll have to edit these in later, since I need to sleep now.
You are always welcome to add your own details, but if I was going to list everything that happened, I'd have to write so much more.
