Rousted In Rastenburg At The Rose Court
Summary
Adventure: Rousted In Rastenburg At The Rose Court
GM: Anna
Season: Autumn 803 WK
- Party
- Employer
- Court of the Rose
- Mission
- discover why people have been disappearing from their dungeon
- Original scribe notes
- Media:Snau0201.zip
Scribe Notes
Day1
The party has the following people in it:
- Roderigo – a fearless (ig) noble “moustachioed” halfling of dangerous reputation. An excellent (trainee) e&e mage
- Sauté – a fearsome badly singed elf fire mage who is strangely short.
- Lady Lizette Summers – a gentlewoman adventurer of apparently seamless virtue.
- Sir Sven – a scary armed to the teeth giant-like chaos knight, water mage.
- Sera Angelis – a she elf with a golden breastplate – which tends to catch the eye of those endowed with a y chromosome.
- Sir Dontalon Falouge – a foppish well dressed gentleman adventurer and clever e & e mage, who has a tail & whiskers - meow!
- Saurus – a very large lizardman - who dares to dabble in the dark arts.
Our party has been hired by the Court of the Rose, through their emissary, Ash - a fop, to discover why people have been disappearing from their dungeon. It is the sort of dungeon where people go voluntarily. Sauté has been there before (strictly on guild business) – he drops dark hints, nudges & winks. We conclude it is a high-class brothel. The toffs elect Lady Lizette as party leader (primarily because of who her daddy was.) Roderigo is voted scribe although his literacy skills are still in the developmental stage. The party agrees to meet at the White Swan.
Sir Sven makes strength and healing potions at 200sp a go. Sir Don (apparently a poor fighter takes 10!) Unbelievable! Saurus takes 5! Incredible! The doughty Roderigo needs only 1. Sir Don, the true gent, gives 5healing plus 2 x strength to lady Lizette. Sauté suggests he will eat the soul of water element creatures to make him better at spells. Sir Sven looks on darkly. The party discuss disguising Saurus is plate armour with a cloak. It turns out that he is rather weak & t
The idea is vetoed. He agrees to walk on all fours & pretend to be a pet.
At the White Swan, (Sir Don & Sir Sven with retinues in tow – possibly meaning the rest of us!) All are in full fig engarbed in the best clobber. Ash has hired a private room with a top fireplace. Heaps of grub. Ash plays the lute. On request from Roderigo he plays song about tipsy nuns & sailors. Sauté reveals that someone once tried to kill him here & it is not a nice place. The party drinks with a mixture of caution and abandon – free drinks – yee ha – caution abandoned !! Predictably we have been drugged and we all fall asleep accept Serra Angelis, who immediately bolts the door. She revives us with a neutralise poison spell. Roderigo turns invisible and skulks. Sir Don sends out a wizard eye. We are wedged in but Sven kicks it in. Sven sends out a rainstorm to Saute’s horror. Sven regales a rumour that elfs eat babies. We leg it through the kitchen and all the way back to the guild. Sir Sven, playing the Viking macho man tosses the ill Lady Lizette over his shoulder. Sven also puts Sera over his shoulder and carries both. At the guild we sleep.
Delphinium and Ash are there. We conclude that our mission is not a secret. We decide to travel by water elemental from Seagate to somewhere Sven can make us a boat. Roderigo strongly objects and votes for horse and cart through dangerous lands taking months, but is overruled. HE Has no choice but to get completely trashed and thus avoid the horror. Sven waterproofs everything and casts water breathing we travel by water elemental.
Having fled Seagate via water elemental we settle done & wait while Sven makes a battle barge to take us across the sea.
Day 3 (3rd Fruit)
Peaceful
Day4
Peaceful but rain
Day5
Overcast
Day 6
We pass by a fisherman’s boat
Day 7
Fine
Day8
Rough - we meet mer folk
Day9
Clearing. By evening we reach Freeport. Ash and Lizette discuss Court etiquette.
Sven & Sir Don go to buy 2 mules and a cart. Captain of the Guard hates the Rose Court. We set watches. 1. Sven & Sera 2. Saute & Roderigo 3. Lizette & Saurus 4. Sven & Sir Don
Day 10
Fine day – we depart for Rastenberg. By evening we reach a Tavern. It is fairly full. We order food and take a table by the fire. An angry mob descends towards our tavern. We evacuate and pause to pick up the person inciting them & run north toward Rastenberg, stopping on the road an hours walk from it.
Sir Don commands Sauté to pitch a tent. He does. Party debate what to do with the prisoner. Sir Don charms and he & Ash question him. The prisoner gives a lame explanation. Roderigo valiantly suggests a more pragmatic solution – trimming his toes. Overruled. Prisoners name is Spider. Sera Angelis assists him to pee by dangling him above a list trench - she being strength enhanced – yuck! Saurus attempts to sap the prisoner (tied up) to stop his whining - but misses. Lady Lizette covers prisoner in blankets to keep him warm. We wake up as the prisoner having freed him self whilst concealed under the blankets & escapes. We chase and catch him. It seems no one was
really on watch. Sauté probes the prisoner’s soft and spongy bits (reason not too well explained.) The rest of the party (except Roderigo and possibly Saurus) are disgusted.
Day 11
Morning. Ash, Saurus and Sauté stay behind as the rest of the party go to retrieve horses and cart from Rastenberg. We queue at the gates and are taken by the guards to the barracks where we are questioned. They advise that the city is not that safe. We are recommended the Golden Lion Inn. Guards advise of problems with out of town factions and to beware bandits. We go to find the Court of the Rose. We go to a coffee house and eat cakes and coffee. Roderigo & Lizette go to a bar - liquor is very strong & the locals are suspicious – hmmm time to abandon ship – they bale out. Sir Don buys a map. At the Rose Court we see Delphinium. Everyone is a babe!! We are led into the castle. Masted (an eleven lady) is also there. Masted explains that there has been a peasant uprising in the city. Mercenaries have been called in to help the city guard.
Delphinium reveals a plan to smuggle Ash, Saurus and Sauté into the city. We are shown rooms. There are many rules whilst in the city. You must pay for all services. Cash is vulgar so gifts are used. You must bathe once per day etc. You must bang a gong before casting. The gong is in the Courtyard. You cannot wear orange. Sometimes you must wear blindfolds. If you break the rules you are punished in various ways including cleaning. We are shown the bathhouse at 4 p.m. It is a very complex area and easy to get lost. Sire Don & other nobles go out on horses and bring in Ash & co. Saurus is disguised as game slung over a horse. The guards notice Ash is with us.
Saurus is not allowed in the Courtyard between 4 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Day 12
A party is going on but our party tries to sleep in prep. For casting spells prior to our adventure. Lady Lizette decides not to sleep and to go and eat & drink. She is approached by “Oak” and “Web” who offer her a drink. It tastes really really good! Ash rescues her and teaches her how to say “not interested”. She visits various rooms – mirror room, waterwheel room, garden etc.
Dinner – Sauté, Roderigo, Sera & Lizette join her. All but Roderigo drink a brown liquid, which turns out to be a happy inducing drink – yee ha! Party down! Everyone is cruising for a little action. Roderigo gets no offers even when he borrows a ring from Lizette and puts it on his finger despite looking as winsome as is possible given his limitations (9 PB & short) Ebony explains:
- Left hand – man likes woman
- Right – man likes man
- Both – AC/DC
- 3 rings – anything goes.
Roderigo slinks off to bed with his tail between legs. The others stay. Sauté & Sera Angelis party one & do lots of touching and soulful gazing and …. (well, you’ll have to ask them). We are to meet Delphinium at breakfast (12 p.m.)
Day 13
We are awoken by a mob outside attempting to invade Rose Court & other privileged places. Sven grasps rune sword & runs out. Sir Don appears in magic pj’s & curly toed slippers, Roderigo affixes moustache & rushes out… Sir Sven casts a rainstorm which discourages mob. A horn blows – mercenaries and guard charge.
Sir Don of Nightingale insists on bandaging wounded. Roderigo attempts to loot but finds only lice! Sauté is recognised by Guard member – not favourably. Sera Angelis, utilises famed guild charm skills to max effect & asks the guard if Sauté “boned his wife” ? He does not like us we think.
Everyone dresses to meet Delphinium. Lady Lizette is suddenly very assertive.
Delphinium, Ash< Masted, Lilly – (she of black leather etc) Bear, Volpine are there. Delphinium tells us: 2 weeks ago Suede who was helping Lilly went missing from the Dungeon. It has only one entrance. There was a smell of sulphur in the room. They believe is a haunting. They do not know if our problems in transit are related. Last night, Lavender, a witch, went missing. Our prisoner is still being held. People have only gone to the dungeon in twos or threes since. The dungeons are extensive. The river under the water is not running properly. The Court has many enemies due to its privileged status. The newest people in Court are Venom, Badger, Petal. There was a death about 12 years ago. A Lord had a heart attack. The Court is about 150 years old thew same as the rest of the city. It is a low mana zone.
We debate torturing the prisoner. Sir Don = against it. Roderigo = pro. Giselle was an acquaintance of….? Lilly & Ash will go in the Dungeon with us.
The guards have requested to talk to us. We will see them tomorrow after breakfast. We arm ourselves and prepare to enter.
Order – Sven, SA Saute, Don, Lady L Ash, Roderigo, Lilly Saurus
Lilly has a lantern. Suede was a human 6’2” of about 23 with strong muscles. We explore look around various antechambers through various passages, notice many mirrors and some secret passages. We come to a room done up in black leather and chrome with bottles on coffee tables, lounging chairs with a two door entrance. Ash advises this is the interview room where Lords & Ladies wait to receive treatment. Lilly was in the room when Suede disappeared in the dungeon. He made no noise. Lilly knows of no other way out. There was a 30 min gap between when she saw him last and when she knew he had disappeared. It was about 1 a.m. Lilly shows us the dungeon proper – all the usuals for S&M – Sire Don reveals that he has previously been tortured in a dungeon. Suede was in this room or the prep room when he disappeared to the knowledge of Lilly. There is a swing wall with a room in behind with whips, chests, masks, manacles & feathers.
Alligator clips, needles hooks, & funny shaped clubs with two lumps on end. These look familiar somehow. Sera DA’s - the only unusual aura is a magic aura on the chest. Lilly says it is magically protected from intrusion. There is another room, which is not opened very often. Saurus attempts to determine if someone has died. Suddenly he screams and collapses. It is determined that he has encountered a very strong death presence. Ash reveals that this area is seldom used – being for necrophiliacs. There is a natural; grotto behind a swivelling wall - full of coffins with an earth floor. All the devices apparently used by necrophiliacs are apparently there. It is dry & clean. Vampires have stayed here to entertain the necro crowd. There are no tracks. LLS looks in a coffin where she discovers a pair of black gloves. Sera DA’s and determines that they allow interplanar travel of some sort. We discover a concealed passage 1 person wide. We go down it – Serra, Sven, LS, Don, Rod, A, L, S. It twists about. There are 5 alcoves. One has a deep ubliat. Others have tables with bottles etc. Roderigo is tied up by the party and dropped down an ubliat on the end of a rope & told to scream if he sees anything. He screams after about 5 seconds alleging he saw a big snake. The party pulls him out. Sera lights a torch & oil and tosses it down there. There are some shadows. Roderigo maintains he saw a snake still. The party do not see anything - mysterious! Sera the tart, calls Roderigo a girl.
We come to a trap door in a ceiling with a stepway going up. Sven enters. It turns out to be an opulently appointed bedroom with a 4 poster. There are no mirrors. Saurus casts a spell but has a bad backfire and is cursed as a result. We retrain him. This is the vampire guest room. Roderigo saps Saurus unconscious. He has lost his memory and appears to be merely a big lizard that cannot talk or do anything other than reptile brain functions. He travels through some natural caverns past a series of openings where there is running water. Saurus is returned home by Lilly. We enter a large ballroom via a large spiral staircase. Ash takes us to the water room. It is large and noisy. Sir Don admires a fine machine that is functioning there pumping hot water etc. Ash notices a spell has been cast on him. He begins to walk deliberately toward the well; Roderigo saps him for his own good & knocks him out. We suspect there is a vampire or a mind mage somewhere. We leg it to the kitchen. Ash refuses to tell us what happened. We take the restored Ash back to our rooms. Lady L dissipates the spell on Ash. We go together with Ash to see Delphinium & to enquire about openings in the water/ plumbing system.
