Previous: Into the Undercity
Sessions 41 & 42: Snakes in the Grass
After the cornugon disappeared, the group was alert to the possibility of the devil returning to continue its onslaught. When they figured that the devil wasn’t returning, they began the long journey back to the surface.
After walking for a day, they were ambushed by the cornugon and three of its infernal allies. The cornugon attacked from the roof of a building, raining fireballs on the group, while its three hamatula allies charged from the darkness. Chiranjeev climbed the side of the building to attack the cornugon, while the rest of the group attacked the hamatulas. The hamatulas were defeated quickly and Bannor quickly climbed the building to aid Chiranjeev in his battle with the infernal beast. Between the two of them they destroyed the creature, sending it back to hell where it belongs.
When the group reached the surface, they met with Neil Bender, the proprietor of the Cat House. Neil warned them that there were rumors that the Gamoners had brought in some outside help in the form of a master of silent death from the Black Lotus Society.
Wary of the assassin, the group decided to track down Lauren Newton, the owner of the Tankard & Dram. She is the highest-ranking Gamoner that the group had heard of.
When the group entered the Tankard & Dram, the place was empty. It was late afternoon, so that wasn’t out of the ordinary.
Flerg and Corwynne ascended the stairs, while Bannor approached the bar and asked the bartender where he could find Lauren. The bartender immediately turned and bolted out of the door. Bannor leaped the bar and chased the man, catching him just outside. He grabbed the man and flung him back toward the door, slamming him into the door jam, and knocking him unconscious. Bannor dragged the man back in the tavern so Astaria could wake the man to question him. When Astaria and Chiranjeev questioned the bartender, he insisted that he didn’t know where Lauren was, or how to contact her. Of course Astaria didn’t believe the man, so she cast a divination spell called chain of eyes (allowing her to see out of the bartender’s eyes) and released the man.
Upstairs, a slight man exited one of the doorways as Flerg and Corwynne crested the stairwell. Flerg challenged the man, telling him to stop where he was. The man calmly picked up his pace. Corwynne, figuring that this may be the assassin that the group was watching for trapped the man behind a wall of force. Corwynne told Flerg to watch the man and descended the stairs to get the rest of the group.
En masse the group
attacked the assassin, killing him quickly.
After defeating the assassin, the group returned to the Cat House. Astaria needed to be led, because she was concentrating on seeing through the bartender’s eyes. Shortly after the group left, the bartender left the Tankard & Dram. He wound his was through the dockside neighborhood, until he approached a small house. Inside he met with a woman, assumed to be Lauren. That same evening the group found their way to the house and entered, hoping to find Lauren and her Gamoner associates.
The house was empty, but Corwynne used her magic to scry on Lauren. She found Lauren in a meeting room with eleven other people. Corwynne teleported the group into the meeting room and they attacked the meeting Gamoners. After a hard-fought battle, the Gamoners were defeated and while most of the group searched the bodies for clues (and booty), Flerg and Bannor ascended the stairs to the exit of the room.
When Bannor and Flerg exited the room, they stepped into a hallway in City Hall!