Session 7: The Ghost of Raske (Part 3)

Key Points:

• As the group traveled away from the docks, they ran into Tommik.
• Tommik was riling up the town, rambling on about the ghost and the dragon's wrath.
• Trajan calmed the crowds and dispersed the crowd and guards. Upon talking to Tommik, he learned that the gnome had stolen a journal from the ghost, and in it, mentioned Otho's brother, Nerva.

• Kembu learned that Del and Klein went to the sheriff's office to take care of Igam, the dwarven woman who caught a disease.
• Del discovered that Igam was bad off, but she gave directions to Sheriff Oku on how to nurse her back to health.

• Kembu, Roan, Managirl, and Del discussed with Sheriff Oku about the information they had acquired so far.
• Kembu suggested that Oku arrange for all the suspected Red Wolves to be gathered under one roof for protection.
• Oku mentioned that the Red Wolves first appeared fifteen years ago, right around the time where the Raske Patriarch was abandoned by his wife.
• Tommik himself arrived about twelve years ago.
• Oku mentioned that a tracker by the name of Ranger lived out in the woods, and he might be able to help the group.
• Kembu asked Klein to come up with a way to trace the mana of the Ghost.
• Calling it child's play, Klein did just that.

•  Following the trail, with a couple hours worth of walking, the group ended up at a cabin in the woods next to a stream.
• In the outhouse, Trajan discovered a golden retriever that was killed and hung. It had bites taken out of it, and strips of flesh missing. Trajan noticed that something seemed to be living down in the hole of poop that the outhouse had, but it quickly fled when the door was opened.
• Roan discovered a small reptilian creature (a kobold) spying on the group, and he knocked it unconscious with a rubber bullet.
• Kembu discovered the door to the cabin was trapped, and disabled it the only one he knew: with a sword.
• Inside the cabin, the group discovered that the walls had been written on in draconic. On it, it revealed the names of the Red Wolves: Jemos, Cindra, Knute, Igam, Rukkevinta. It also promised that Raske would burn.

• As the group looked over the kobold Roan had captured, Trajan was enthralled with the writing on the wall. Soon, he discovered he was not alone, being ambushed by a fire mephit  that was the servant of Nerva.
• The mephit attempted to burn the cabin down, and with it, any evidence linking to Nerva.
• The group battled ferocious dragon-like elementals as well as hordes of kobolds. Most of the kobolds were scared away, but two of them were captured by the group. All the dragon-like elementals were killed, exploding into magma when slain.
• Managirl found the arcane tome of Nerva inside the house before the mephit could burn it, but unfortunately, she could not rescue the deceased body of Ranger.
• Kembu tried to engage the mephit, but she managed to push a bookcase on him, and escape up the chimney in the confusion.
• Managirl helped Kembu get out, and the group managed to get out of the cabin while it burned to the ground.

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Second Job: Escort Dr. Klein to Quiet Mountain to investigate the mana reactor there.
• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.
• Resolve the conflict in Raske. (Ghost, Red Wolves, etc.)

Session 6: The Ghost of Raske (Part 2)

Key Points:

• The group met the next morning (after a cramped night of rest) for breakfast.
• They filled in Dr. Klein about the events with the Ghost of Raske. She offered her assistance in the matter, if only so they could be done and out of here.
• Sheriff Oku showed up to discuss the ghost situation with the group.
• The group noticed that the halfling innkeeper was eavesdropping on them.
• She told the group what she knew of the Red Wolves. There were five of them, four now. Male and female, not sure on what the ratio is. One is really tall, 7'0. Another was small, like a kid or a gnome. Another was squat like a dwarf. The last is a lady with a raspy voice.
• Trajan had a word with Rukkevinta. So did Roan. 
• Oku gave the group leads: the dock workers (dwarves, gnomes, halflings), Tommik, Kador, and Emorin. 
• The group, after a lead from Roan, decided to pursue a lead with the Raske family.
•  Del and Klein stayed behind, as Del still felt sick from the infection sustained from the Ghost.
• Along the way to Raske Manor, the group spotted an empty iron cage in the middle of one of the streets. 
• At the docks, Managirl convinced a fisherman to lend the group their raft for the day. 
• At the estates, the group split up! ... Oh dear.
•  Managirl broke into Raske Manor, where she found a hidden compartment in a bedroom closest (belonging to a married couple). Inside, she found a red cloak and a wolf mask.
• Trajan purchased some illegally smuggled goods from the gardener, while chatting him up. The gardener revealed that the head of the Raske family had his wife leave him 15 years ago to an outsider (a Genesis businessman). The Raske Patriarch took it hard, and so did his daughter. The Raske family plans to hold a party in a day or two.
• Kembu and Roan interviewed Knute, the bodyguard to the Raske family. He is prejudiced to otusiders and seemed very uncooperative, but he was interested in the group taking care of the ghost. He identified Rukkevinta, Igam, Elenka, and Emorin as the members of the Red Wolves.
• Kembu didn't believe Emorin was one of them, instead, that Knute was covering for himself.
• The group discussed their findings on their raft ride back to town. The next plan is to talk to Sheriff Oku.

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Second Job: Escort Dr. Klein to Quiet Mountain to investigate the mana reactor there.
• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.
• Catch the murderer ("ghost") of Raske?
• Bring the Red Wolves to justice? 

Session 5: The Ghost of Raske (Part 1)

Key Points:

• Managirl found herself at gun point from one of the deputies of Raske. However, the sheriff (Oku), defused the situation quickly. Soon, the group gathered to hear the tales and woes of the ghost of Raske...
• The townspeople claim that a ghost murdered the captain of the town guard (Jemos) as well as three other guards at the town's southern guardhouse. Jemos' corpse was set on fire (though he didn't smell of gasoline or other ignition fluid), but the other victims had their throats torn out. Jemos was found with a wolf mask and a red cloak.
• Many claim that the ghost is a man called Otho. A stranger in Raske, he was a thief and a con artist. Otho was reported to be "strange", many people thought he was a manaborn, but there wasn't sufficient proof to confirm what he was, since he didn't match the description of a deva, a tiefling, or a genasi.
• Otho was rumored to be killed by the Red Wolves. He was beaten to death, then burned in a pyre. Otho only really committed small crimes, nothing worthy of that treatment.
• The Red Wolves are a vigilante group of concerned citizens in Raske. They have driven off outsiders from the town before, but they've never had such a violent turn like this. They are considered outlaws, but Oku believed that Jemos protected their identities.
• Although Otho wasn't a mage in life, people reported his ghost to be able to use magic. Hellfire, unholy blights, and the ability to appear instantaneously.
• Tommik, an eccentric gnome who specializes in the occult, was the one to see Otho attack the guardhouse. He insists Otho is a ghost.
•  The group offered to help solve the mystery in Raske in order to protect its citizens. Oku agreed, as she was short staffed. She didn't necessarily offer any reward, but she did say that she would pay for the group's expenses while in town.
• A dockworker, short of breath, arrived and warned the group that the ghost was attacking people at the dock.
• At the dock, several people (guards and workers) had been killed. A dwarven woman was trying to escape from a figure cloaked in smoke.
• Kembu leaped (an impossible distance for a normal man) to defend the woman, but for his troubles, he had black cancerous tar and poison spewed on him.
• Managirl supported him from the roof of a nearby shock, raining her magic down upon the figure.
• Roan, likewise, supported the group from a distance. He had several impressive sniper rifle shots (including knocking an amulet off the ghost's neck).
• Del and her crew of animals and spirits headed to support Kembu from the rear. Her healing magic and her animals (who got their licks and swipes in) were a boon.
• Trajan, recklessly or fearlessly (your choice), engaged the ghost in melee. He learned that it was really a man in there, and find him a competent hand-to-hand fighter. Trajan had an awesome nut shot though...
• Throughout the fight, several things happened...
• Kembu sprained his wrist.
• Kembu, the dwarven woman, and Del all contracted a disease.
• The group discovered that the ghost was looking to get revenge for Otho. So unless he liked to talk in the third person... this wasn't Otho.
• The ghost was powerful, giving everyone a good fight.
• Kembu and the Dwarven woman tried to escape by boat, but the ghost destroyed it with his fire magic. The ghost, then, disappeared into ash (having been bloodied by the group).
• Kembu and the woman survived the boat's explosion, but Del (instructing Trajan) saw to the dwarven woman being given mouth-to-mouth to save her life. 
• After the fight was over, the group began to lick their wounds. Igam (the dwarf woman) had been saved, though she didn't give much insight into the ghost situation. She seemed in favor of what the Red Wolves did, and seemed to insist that Otho deserved what he got. She is convinced that this is the ghost of Otho, though, out for revenge.
• Del's theory is that this is a twin brother of Otho getting his revenge.
• Roan retrieved the amulet-half he shot off of the ghost, and later, it was revealed that the other half of the amulet was in the town's evidence locker. The other half was given to Del by Oku. When combined, the gold amulet shows the visage of a dragon breathing firing.
• Trajan seemed perturbed, yet interested that the image of a dragon kept coming up (on the amulet, in the ghost's smoke). He didn't take well to Oku calling dragons 'fictional'.
• Igam is being kept by Oku temporarily in the town's jail (for protection, yet, she is also suspected of being a Red Wolf, as the wolf mask and cloak was found at the docks).

• Trajan, Roan, and Kembu noticed throughout the night that a very tall (7'0) bald man with the look of a bodyguard kept observing the night's affairs from afar. Roan found that the man high-tailed it out of there after the sheriff arrived at the crime scene. He fled to the Raske estate, which the group learned belongs to a wealthy family that the town was named after.
• After retrieving Dr. Klein, the group turned in for the night at the Red Eye Inn (where they met the halfling inn keeper).

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Second Job: Escort Dr. Klein to Quiet Mountain to investigate the mana reactor there.
• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.
• Catch the murderer ("ghost") of Raske.

Session 4: The Doctor Is In

Key Points:

• Trajan woke up to another one of his dreams. Afterwards, he encountered the infamous Bag Lady of Babylon, and purchased some choice magazines and a bag of oranges from her for a silver.
• Roan himself had an (un?)pleasant dream too that he didn't quite want to wake up from, but reluctantly did. He eventually would go pick up Kembu, thinking that the kid could use a ride.
• Del dreamed of her mentor while Managirl dreamed of an event in a past. The two bonded a little in the early morning.
• Kembu too was not safe either from dreaming, recalling something he had thought he had forgotten. Though, he got to have breakfast with Lisa.
• Somehow, someway, each of the crew members received a newspaper with a PDA hidden in it. Given to the group by the Middleman and the Watchdog, they each now have a way to contact each other.
• The PDAs each had an event in it: telling the crew to meet with the Watchdog over breakfast.
•  Managirl and Del arrived first at the dwarven themed diner with Roan and Kembu not too far behind them in the truck. Trajan was last to arrive, figuring out the meeting a little later than the others.
• Over dwarven food for breakfast, the Watchdog offered the group a choice.
• He had a unique client that didn't mind her identity to be revealed if it meant getting a good team.
• The group agreed to meet the client, and encountered the eccentric Dr. Vesper Klein.
• After learning that she was interested in investigating an abandoned mana reactor near the town of Quiet Mountain in the name of SCIENCE, the group agreed to help her out. She seemed friendly enough (if a little weird).
• Klein gave her 'magic science bag' to the group as a gift, which it ended up being filled with numerous goodies.
• The group purchased a few other goods and Del even sent a letter back home. After hooking up Klein's trailer to the truck, the group left Babylon for Quiet Mountain.
• As they traveled, the group was asked to stop on the side of the road by Del and Klein.
• A group of horl choos (porcupine bushes) was spotted near a set of humanoid bones. The group found that these plants had been mutated by mana radiation, and were very much alive.
• Trajan tested them out by offering some of his oranges to them.
• The group kept a good distance away from them, and Del put up a note on a nearby tree to warn travelers of the danger of these pushes (as they were found to have acidic quills).
• Klein gathered some valuable information and sketches on them, before consenting to leave (secretly, disappointed that they did not uproot and take one with them). 
• By sunset, the group had made it to the town of Raske, where they would (probably) be staying the night...
• Along the way, they found several disturbing items...
• A dwarven woman rode a motor boat into town along the rivers.
• An effigy of a man in red with a wolf's mask for a head could be seen hanging by a noose out in the forest.
• Signs warned of a murderous ghost in town and told travelers to turn back.
•  Roan stopped the truck short of the closed town gates.
• Kembu went up to the gates to eavesdrop and heard a large crowd of villagers arguing with the town captain over the 'ghost'.
• Managirl and Trajan went to the wall, where the latter gave the former a boost.
• Managirl, while looking over, was snatched up by someone and dragged onto the other side of the wall!

New Items:

• See this thread: http://terranullius.freeforums.org/session-4-loot-t21.html

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Second Job: Escort Dr. Klein to Quiet Mountain to investigate the mana reactor there.
• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.
• Solve the trouble in Raske?

Session 3: Complete the Objectives (Part 2)

Key Points:

• With three rooms down and two to go, the group entered the next testing room. Likened to a dungeon hall in a fantasy castle, the group had to reach the end of the hallway within a time limit.
• The hallway had trapped statues that shot out fire. A few people tripped it (Trajan and Managirl), but neither were really harmed by it thanks to their testing suit. Del was able to find the 'on/off' switch for the first one, before using Jergo's blinking ability to get some of the others across without triggering the other trap.
• Trajan was the first to find the trip wires too. One of them caught him bad and took him to the ground, but after that, Kembu was able to cut the rest of the first set of wires down while from across the room, Roan shot out the main wire from the second set further down the hallway.
• Kembu was the only one to trigger one of the trapped floor-pits, but he avoided falling into it.
• The last trap, a swarm of angry bees, were kept from harming the party by... Trajan keeping his suit on fire from the traps and scaring off the bees with smoke and fire.
• The group was only allowed access to the next room after they all made it across the room successfully.
• The scenario for the final room consisted of a murky, dirty swamp. They were tasked with taking a research specimen alive.
• After Del found some tracks, Managirl noticed some shadows across a bridge in the swamp. Kembu, having crossed that bridge, found himself swarmed by bullywugs.
• As Managirl attempted to provide artillery support, she took a nasty spill into the swamp, falling off the bridge. There, she was nearly dragged underwater by a bullywug, but her infernal wrath killed it, and with the help of Jergo, she got back onto the bridge.
• Trajan's MMA and wrestling fighting style found himself rushing to Kembu's aid. He grappled one of the Bullywugs and kept it pinned to the ground, choking it all the while.
• Kembu engaged the bullywug's chieftain, who missed its spell against the swordsman. With several deft strikes, the chieftain was bloodied. It was Roan with the careful aim of his sniper rifle that knocked out the chief in the end with rubber bullets.
• The bullywug soldiers gave the group a run for their money. Both Kembu and Trajan were severely wounded by them throughout the course of the fight. Not to mention Del's poor summoned toad!
• Del herself got in a few good licks, hitting one of them with her staff and having Kiki, her bear, maul another one. Managirl herself claimed a few 'kill shots' with her impressive 'super powered' magic.
• During the combat, Trajan sustained an infected wound.
• In the end, two research specimens were left alive, and so the group completed the testing facility.
• With the trials completed, the group found donuts and fruit punch waiting for them in a small break room. There, the cleaning robot, celebrated, but was ultimately dismayed with his inability to party. Not only that, but the group caught a lab technician personnel, who went to leave the donuts, but found himself tempted by them as he forgot to leave before the group showed up.
• Many of the party members were unhappy and tried employing a number of tactics to get information out of the technician. While intimidated, he seemed to not back down on several key points. He assured that the group that this testing facility could only be used by screened personnel and that he would wipe any tracing signs of the group's identities from the test so that it could not be used against them in the future.
• With those assurances in mind, the group agreed to the terms of returning the equipment they borrowed, and were awarded their payment (as well as the ability to leave).
• As they left, the group found that Kembu had gone alone ahead of them, and it took some convincing when they found him to get him to come along with the group in the truck. In the early morning, the group returned to their residences for some rest...

New Items:

• 75 GP each [Middleman Payment.]
• All items from the testing facility were recollected and taken away from the group before they were allowed to leave.

Current Objectives:

• Complete the Middleman's Second Job: ???
• Complete the Middleman's Third Job: ???
• Receive the Middleman's Answers.