Mystery Adventure

Last week the players decided to take on a mystery style adventure that had been lurking in the background. I did not push the adventure at them. But a series of murders in the fantasy town they call home was being wildly reported by town criers and contacts in the poorer part of town. I left it up to the players to decide if they wanted to get involved. There were no obvious rewards offered and their usual contact at the Town Watch did not see the need to involve them or offer a reward.

I used "Legend of the Ripper" written by Andrew Hind for Dungeon Crawl Classics. As written the adventure places the players immediately in the area where the dungeon portion of the adventure starts. It does suggest the GM can add a search for clues to get the players started. I decided to do this, I also drew my own maps and rewrote a fair amount. Since the adventure is to take place in the slums of a large town and below the streets I took advantage of some old dungeons the players had already explored in this part of town months earlier. As it was the players immediately thought to investigate one of the old dungeons without any prompting.

In the session, the players uncovered about half of the plot but they still have a lot of detective work to do to figure out the true culprit.

Session 38: Legend of the Ripper

Players: Lakima (Human Magic-user), Eathwund (Human Fighter), Moonshadow (Elven Thief), Domago (Human cleric NPC), Lantosh (Human Fighter NPC).

Having recovered a suitable stand-in for the Tome of Artifice the heroes still have two days to wait before the blue dragon Synastarax is scheduled to show up. The Town Watch are making preparations. With nothing better to do, Lakima suggests checking into the horrible killings that are happening in Mirdton, the poor side of town. Lakima, Eathwund, Moonshadow, and Lantosh set out for the Bronze Key tavern in the shadow of the Emerald Moon Cheese company. They had previously cased these locations for an earlier adventure.

The Bronze Key tavern is the cheapest of dives and the group grimaces through a round of really poor ale. They suspect the barkeep might have deliberately given them the worst ale in the tavern. At first, their appearance in the tavern quiets the room, but once they settle in the conversation starts back up. The killings by the Ripper dominate the local conversation. The brutality displayed in the killings and the similarity to killings that happened 30 years ago in Milner’s Court is the main topics.

Moonshadow approaches a table with four particularly tough-looking men and manages to get a few more details. The name of the man who was killed and the fact that a member of the watch has gone missing. She returns to the table where her companions wait after paying the men a gold coin for the information. One of the men gets up and approaches their table offering to sell them more information for 30 gold. Lakima tries to negotiate the man down but he sticks to his demand. Lakima casts Charm person on the man but it fails. The man angrily accuses Lakima of using magic and the barkeep tells them to get out and don’t come back. They leave and they notice that the tavern is emptying of other patrons as well. Not many of the locals want to be caught on the street after dark in Mirdton.

The group decided to go to the Frozen Crow Tavern that is near the East Gate. As they leave the Bronze Key they notice how few people are on the street in this neighborhood. Once they get near the East Gate the traffic picks back up to normal. Inside the Crow they enjoy a round of much better ale to wash the bitter taste away of the previous ales. They note that most of the patrons are merchants who have recently come to the Town. The conversation is not about the killings. All of the talks concern the Blue Dragon who terrorized the town a few weeks ago and rumors that the dragon might return. Some merchants recognize the heroes as members of the Company of the Black Dragon and they come over to talk. They ask for news about the dragon. When Lakima confirms that the dragon will be returning any day it starts a hasty exodus of merchants from the tavern, eager to get out of town.

Over drinks, the group discusses what to do next. Lakima suggests that the Ripper might be an undead creature and he knows of an area nearby where they battled undead three months earlier. Only Eathwund and Lakima were part of the group when they entered the crypt below the abandoned Church of St. Bethesda. They return to the Chapter House looking to gather more of the members. Carric is nowhere to be found and Alonso out working with the Watch but they do pick up the cleric Domago. Lakima tells Domago that they may need him to deal with undead creatures.

The group head over to Mirdton and circle the boarded up Church of St. Bethesda. Darkness has not yet fallen but most people have already left the streets. In Milner’s square, they stop to talk to some members of the Town Watch then they enter the still abandoned cottage they used when they exited the crypt months ago. They immediately see signs that someone is using this entrance. Once they drop down through the trap door they approach a door and Moonshadow tells them that she can hear voices on the other side. It sounds like several men arguing over the deal of some cards. Lakima points to Lantosh and Eathwund. Without a word, Eathwund kicks open the door and then rushes into the room followed by Lantosh. Inside they surprise three thieves sitting around a table playing cards, a lantern lighting the room. The room is packed with all manner of crates and goods. The leader of the three men, Thurlo demands to know if they work for a rival gang. When the thieves are told that they are looking for clues to lead them to the Ripper - they laugh. They assure the heroes that there is no Ripper in their safehouse. The thieves appear to be cowed by the heroes' reputations and let them pass through the chamber further into the crypt. At the end of a long hall, they see a chamber with stone coffins. Moonshadow stops and Eathwund and Lantosh move up to take the lead, unfortunately, Eathwund does not see the canvas tarp on the floor covering a pit trap and he steps in it. Eathwund does manage to grab the edge of the pit and pull himself out. From the thieves back in the safehouse they hear laughter and Thurlo calls out, “Oh, sorry I forgot to mention the trap!”

Moonshadow throws her grappling hook with a rope attached into the room beyond and latches it securely on the edge of a stone coffin. Then she makes it across going hand-over-hand. Lakima follows with ease. Eathwund manages to slip but recovers. His mace falls from his belt into the 20-foot deep pit. Lantosh and Domago manage to make it across. Moonshadow climbs down into the pit and recovers Eathwunds mace. Before she can hand it over, Eathwund and Lantosh slide aside the lid of one of the stone coffins and are attacked by a skeleton. Four other stone coffins open and skeletons emerge from them as well. The adventurers make very quick work of the skeletons smashing them to pieces. An examination of the skeletons suggest they are not the original occupants of the coffins.

Once all of the skeletons are gone, Lantosh asks Lakima if they could have been the Ripper. Lakima is certain this is not the case. They continue on exploring several rooms that Eathwund and Lakima had explored months earlier when Daen, Raeish, and Marta were members of the group.Eventually, they come to the intersection of hallways where they see the familiar statue of St. Bethesda. To their right is the chamber where they battled the Wormwraith. Now they see a curtain has been hung up over the entrance to that chamber. Some flickering light comes from the chamber and they can hear the sound of moaning. Eathwund brushes past the curtain and they confront two of the thieves they encountered earlier. A third man lies on a bed in the corner with a bad wound in his stomach. The two thieves seem indifferent to their friend's condition. There is some back and forth conversation and then the heroes decide there is nothing here and they should leave. Domago checks the man who is moaning and gives his opinion that the man will die without healing. His wound is infected. He motions to Lantosh and the two help the man up and then carry him out of the room.

Lakima talks with Thurlo once they arrive back at the cellar beneath the cottage. Thurlo tells him that the remaining door from the room is a dead-end trapped corridor - nothing to see. Once he sees the obvious interest the heroes have in finding the Ripper he offers them some information at a price. Lakima threatens Thurlo with arrest by the watch and he agrees to show them something they will want to see - the latest victim of the Ripper.

The entire group follows Thurlo up to Milner’s Court. Lantosh and Domago head off with the wounded man Holgar for the nearby Church of St. Aleena. Lakima, Eathwund, and Moonshadow follow Thurlo to a dark alley leading to a small courtyard. Once they enter the courtyard they can smell death in the air and see a pool of blood dripping into a sewer grate. Thurlo immediately leaves his part of the bargain complete. Moonshadow examines the eviscerated corpse. She tells the others that this victim is a man. Apparently a member of the Town watch. He was cut up by someone using a large knife or a thin dagger. There are not many more clues. There is plenty of blood about the corpse but no tracks.

Moonshadow checks the nearby buildings and finds them all boarded up. She climbs up onto the roof of one building and scans the nearby rooftops. She comes to the conclusion that certainly it is possible to travel across the rooftops unnoticed from below. Several alleys over she spots an open trapdoor in the attic roof of a two-story building near Milner’s court. Moonshadow descends and tells the others what she has seen. The trio decides to head for the building with the open trapdoor. Once they cross a larger street, Moonshadow again climbs the side of a building and makes her way across rooftops. As Lakima and Eathwund approach the apparently abandoned building from street level, Moonshadow approaches the open trapdoor in the roof. Looking inside she spots a corpse lying on the floor of the attic. This body is of a woman and the attack looks a lot cruder than the previous one. The arm and head have been almost completely removed. Moonshadow descends into the attic and looks about. There are a few crates and boxes piled up in the chamber. Then she climbs back out of the attic to tell her companions what she has found. As she leaves the attic she hears a faint whimpering from inside the attic. She hurriedly heads back to the street level. Moonshadow tells Lakima and Eathwund of the corpse she found.

Rooftops

Since the Town Watch is standing a short distance away across the courtyard, Lakima waves to get their attention and then waves them over. Three members of the Town watch approach. Lakima tells them they have spotted a body in the abandoned building. The sergeant of the Watch present, Breve, tells them this is the old Ten Bells Tavern. It makes sense that the Ripper would leave a body here. The last victim of the Ripper 30 years ago was left here. A woman who worked at the Ten Bells. Moonshadow impatiently suggests the Town Watch get inside the abandoned building and investigate. The men of the watch pry boards off a door and then take turns slamming the door until the bars inside gives way. Inside they find themselves in a long-abandoned kitchen. The three guards and the three heroes quickly make their way through the tavern and upstairs. On the second floor, they spot a ladder to the attic. The watchmen go up and find the corpse. One member of the watch heads down to get more help. The other two examine the body while Eathwund, Lakima, and Moonshadow check the attic. They find what might have been a cache of stolen goods that have long since rotted. Moonshadow finds a man curled up in the shadows in the fetal position whimpering. She calls the Town Guard over. One of them exclaims that they have “caught the Ripper!” but Moonshadow and Lakima both tell them this is more likely a victim or witness. Breve notes that he recognizes the man as a local thief. But when they examine the whimpering man they see that his eyes are completely white. He is blind and that was not the case before. The man seems incapable of talking, Lakima tells them that he thinks the man is in shock.

With things under control, Lakima, Eathwund, and Moonshadow descend to the tavern’s second floor and check some of the guest rooms. They find a few empty rooms, a room with a bat nest, and what looks like the former owner's room. At the end of the hallway, Eathwund almost falls through the floor where it has rotted away. A shower of debris falls into the tavern below. Checking the last room they find it is set up like a creepy, forgotten bridal suite. Dried out roses in a vase, dust everywhere, and on the bed is a human-sized shape under the faded sheets. A skeletal arm and leg poking out from beneath the sheets. Moonshadow sneaks up and pulls the sheet back revealing the corpse of a woman in a wedding dress. Her hair and skin still stretched across her bones. Examining the corpse she decides it has been dead for 20-30 years and there is dirt on the dress suggesting the body was dug up. Moonshadow moves over to the table and picks up the ring and appraises it. It looks like a cheap silver wedding ring worth a few gold coins. But as she picks up the ring a ghost of a woman rises up from the bed and angrily yells at her, “Put that back! It does not belong to you!”

Moonshadow quickly tosses the ring back on the table. But the ghost has already moved to attack. It slashes at Eathwund twice with a ghostly dagger. Then throws the dagger at Lakima. The trio back out of the room and the door slams shut. They hear the ghost shouting, “Get Out, get out!!”. A member of the Town Watch stationed in the hallway rushes over and asks what happened. He is not happy when they tell him there is an angry ghost in the room.

Despite the ghost, the three decide to check one last room and they find nothing. They head back to the owner's room and search it more carefully but find nothing. As they exit, two Town guards come down from the attic carrying the man they found. The man mumbles something about his, “lovely bride..” The mumbling gets the attention of Lakima who stops the guards to question the man some more. The man manages to get across that he saw a man kidnap his wife from where she works. He followed but he was not in time and he found her corpse. While he stared at the corpse the ghost of a woman appeared and began weeping. This is all he can remember. Lakima questions him about the man’s appearance. The witness is confused mentioning he was dressed in black with a red cap. He was tall sometimes and short sometimes. He wore heavy, strange shoes. The man is then led away by the Town Guard.

While they are discussing the case in the hallway they hear the door to the wedding suite thumping. The ghost passes through the wall and attacks them again. Throwing her dagger at them repeatedly. Lakima tries spraying her with acid but it just passes through her. Moonshadow does manage to hit her with an arrow and she vanishes.

The Ghost

Lakima suggests they head down to the tavern level and look for a ledger to see who booked the bridal suite. They head down to the tavern level but cannot find anything behind the bar but dust. There are two doors in the tavern that they have not checked. Moonshadow opens one door and sees a dusty, cobweb-covered storeroom. The cobwebs actually look a little like spider webs so she quickly closes the door. In the next room, they find the office of the Tavern. A small bookcase holds a number of ledgers. The desk is just a table with a chair behind it. They take some of the ledgers from the bookcase and look them over. They do notice that the ledgers detail ten years after the last victim of the Ripper. Making them question how the body ended up upstairs in the bed. When they check through the ledger at the time when the Ripper killings were occurring they note that many people used the room. Including some women repeatedly with different gentlemen. Suggesting to them that the Tavern was used by prostitutes.

The heroes search through the ledger for almost half an hour before setting them aside. They discuss what they should do next.