The Evil Abbot

 This session turned out to be an epilogue for an adventurer the players took part in almost a year ago called the Legend of the Ripper. That adventure ended with the players killing a RedCap who was mimicking a string of murders that occurred a half-century earlier. However, a ghost of one of the victims from the earlier string of killings was still haunting the tavern one of the players had purchased. Chasing away business. So he finally decided to do something about it.

The players were in a period of rest between major adventures. I have introduced three threads that the players could pull on to lead to new adventures. I also had some short encounters put together based on what the players had indicated they might want their characters to do during their downtime.

This session also marks the retirement of the character Alonso as the player is no longer able to make the weekly session time slot. Everyone was really sad to see him go. But these things happen. Alonso had been in the group for exactly a year.

Session 77: The Evil Abbot

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alonso (human fighter), Aashdoshan (human necromancer), Domago (human cleric), Lantosh (human fighter NPC), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

The full Company of the Black Dragon spends a few days of downtime in Edgerton. Lakima creates some magical messages and sends his apprentice Brice out to post them in the Town Square and Market Place. He also sends a personal message to Malyn and Lavinia Crane and has Brice deliver them.

Eathwund asks other members of the company for suggestions on how to get the ghost of Mari Kell to leave his tavern. The entire group decides to head over to the Tavern that afternoon. Business is looking up a little. Aashdoshan suggests a seance to contact the ghost in the cellar. The group heads down to the cellar. Aashdoshan uses chalk on the hard, clay cellar floor to set up a circle of protection. Then he plants his Staff of Withering in the floor. Aashdoshan tells everyone to form a circle around the Staff and then he casts a modified version of Speak with Dead. As he finishes chanting the vocal portion of the spell, the lanterns flicker, and the ghost of Mari Kell appears. She appears calm but sad and looks forlornly at Eathwund.

Eathwund asks how he can help her and she responds that she seeks justice before she can rest. Eathwund asks who killed her and she whispers to him, “the abbot of St. Bethesda!” Aashdoshan then tries to speak with her and she vanishes in a flash.

The adventurers discuss this information. Lakima suggests that the abbot must be dead as Mari Kell was killed fifty years ago. Aashdoshan tells them that this would not matter to a ghost. They just need to confront the corpse of the abbot which is presumably buried in the crypts below the church of St. Bethesda. Most of the members of the group (except Aashdoshan) had ventured into the crypts below the abandoned Church of St. Bethesda in the past. They encountered a crypt holding five coffins and fought some skeletons that were in the coffins.

Lakima and Fenris scout the neighborhood around the abandoned church and they see that the cottage that they entered before to get into the crypt has been boarded up by the town watch. They note several other boarded-up entrances to the church, one of which is in a secluded alley. They decide to come back that evening and enter the church from the alley.

The adventurers return under the cover of darkness and try to discretely enter the alley behind a bakery near the church. Aashdoshan casts Knock and the bars over the door fall to the ground. Fenris checks the door and declares it okay. He goes inside followed by the others. Inside the church is an enormous nave. A stained-glass window lets in the moonlight at one end overlooking a simple altar. Enormous statues of St. Bethesda flank the altar. Debris has fallen from the ceiling onto the floor in several places in the large hall. A pile of debris blocks the stairway down to the cellar. Fenris checks it and says it would take hours to clear it away. Lakima suggests looking for another entrance. They check the bottom floor of the domicile and the belltower. In the belltower, Fenris finds stolen goods in crates and fresh footprints leading from an outside door to the belltower. The footprints head up the wooden staircase.

Fenris, Alonso, and Domago climb the stairs to the next floor and find more stolen goods. Aashdoshan joins them. Fenris asks for quiet and they hear voices from above. Fenris sneaks up the wooden stairs and they hear him confronting a pair of thieves up above. The rest of the group join him. They find two thieves of the Back Alley Clah gang who are on guard duty. The two men are immediately intimidated by the adventurers and offer up whatever information they know. Lakima promises to let them go and tells them that if they answer his questions, he will pretend he never met them. The thieves readily agree. After answering a few questions Lakima puts the pair to work clearing the staircase to the basement. Aashdoshan quietly draws a dagger as the men finish the work, noticing this Lakima angrily shakes his head at Aashdoshan and makes certain that the men leave safely. Once the thieves leave, Aashdoshan and Lakima have a discussion about keeping their word and not killing indiscriminately. Domago and Lantosh side with Lakima in the discussion.

The adventurers descend the stairs into the crypts beneath the church. Once in the crypts, they wander about the somewhat familiar hallways. They eventually remember where the tombs were located. In this room, they see five stone tombs, all open and five skeletons scattered about, some in the tombs and some on the floor. The scene of a fight they had with the skeletons months ago. The names on the tombs are checked and all seem to be for acolytes. The adventurers discuss where to search next when the ghost of Mari Kell appears near one wall. She waits until she has their attention and then steps through the wall.

Lakima takes out his Wand of Secret Door Detection and finds a secret door in the wall where Mari Kell’s ghost passed. Fenris checks and then opens the door. Beyond they find a large chamber. The chamber is bare except for a single stone coffin. The coffin is closed. On the lid they see the crudely carved message, Here lies Abbot Gresham Stowe, may St. Bethesda curse him in the afterlife.

The decision is made to open the tomb. The lid is slid off and inside they see a well-preserved corpse of a man in a simple brown priest’s robe. But the front of the robe is stained brown with blood and has several rips and tears in it. As they watch a ghostly spirit of a man rises up from the tomb. The man smiles serenely at them and in an unthreatening manner speaks, “Welcome to the Church, let me put my blessing upon you all!” He reaches out with ghostly hands towards those who are nearest. Aashdoshan immediately casts Magic Missile at the apparition. As the missiles strike, the ghost’s visage becomes distorted and angry. Lakima quickly shouts an accusation at the ghost accusing him of being the Ripper and murdering Mari Kell. The ghost angrily shouts, “No, no! No one can prove that. I made sure there were no witnesses! Now you must join them” It reaches out toward Alonso but misses. Alonso and Eathwund both strike the wraith with their swords. It screams angrily and begins to fade. The ghost of Mari Kell appears and launches herself at the wraith of the abbot. Both figures fade out of existence. As Mari Kell vanishes, Eathwund hears “Thank you” whispered in his ear.

In the aftermath of the battle, Alonso checks the tomb. The corpse of the abbot is still there but it is clad only in a simple robe. Apparently, he was buried with no valuables. Aashdoshan raises the corpse as a zombie and raises all of the skeletons they have encountered (after paying Fenris to drag some of the skeletons into the nearby room). Now Lakima questions Aashdoshan on how he plans to march his troop of undead minions across town. Lakima offers a solution but he first argues with Aashdoshan again about his methods. Eventually, Lakima casts Phantasmal force disguising the undead as henchmen.

They head across town for their manor. On the bridge to High Town they face a few questions from the town watch but manage to get by them. Aashdoshan disappears into the cellar with his undead minions.

The next day dawns, the day that Lakima had noted in his magical messages for the magic-users of Edgerton to gather at the Manor House at his invitation. Four mages arrive. They introduce themselves as Philo, Kenrae, Arvind, and Katja. Lakima tells them all of the dangers faced by mages in Dolmvay. Recently a witch killed every member of a nearby mage's college and he himself was attacked by an agent of the White Worm. He proposes setting up a Guild to offer mutual protection against those who would seek to harm mages. Three of the mages indicate they are interested. Katja tells him that she will think about it. Lavinia Crane and Malyn do not arrive at the meeting. Aashdoshan indicates that he is in but seems less than enthusiastic. Once Katja leaves, Arnvid tells Lakima that Katja has a reputation for being unlucky. She was asked to leave the Mages guild of Dolmvay and is called Katja the cursed behind her back. Lakima tells them that he would still welcome her into the guild.

Aashdoshan heads down to the cellar to continue to work on a spell he is researching. Lakima, Domago, and Eathwund head to the Apothecary to speak with Malyn. They find that Malyn has hired mercenaries to protect himself. Lakima asks Malyn to join his fledgling mages guild. Malyn tells him he wishes to remain neutral. Lakima argues that he is already involved but he is unable to convince him to join. They head over to the magic-user Lavinia Crane’s home and Lakima argues with her through her door that she does not open to him. Lavinia informs Lakima that she is already in the Mages Guild of Dolmvay. The group returns to the Manor House.

In the next few days, Aashdoshan continues to formulate a new spell, Lakima places an order for some silver Medallions (10) for the Mages' Guild and he buys a lot of parchment. Lakima visits with the head of the local Merchants guild and discusses a partnership and asks for them to look for a suitable Hall for his new Guild. Lakima also begins to research a special Spellbook he wants to create.