DMMike

Session 3

The aristocrats bit off more than they could chew; Phaux summoned Zee, the dire badger, and the aristocrats were bloody and dying only moments later. This of course is when the watch showed up to arrest everyone involved. The night captain had a word with the PCs in a garrison house. They agreed to properly rectify the aristocrats' bloodletting once the wounded were able to hold a meeting. Until then, all offenders had to register their local arrest.

The next day, Paul had a word with Silas; he had heard about Silas' adventure, and wanted to set things straight with the public, so Silas must undertake the Long Prayer (a six-day stint of regular duty during the day, and all-night prayer to Wee Jas). Ralphus (the other priest of Wee Jas) stole Paul away with an important counseling question.

Hubert had a meeting with Caduceus, who asked him to find out about a rumor that a Wee Jas priest had been leaving town at night. After "thoroughly" searching Silas' quarters, Hubert decided it was safe to confide in Silas about this. Looking for help with his new mission, Hubert gathered Asher and Phaux as well, and the group decided to see how well Silas' first night of prayer would go before Silas could join in any investigations.

On day two of the Long Prayer, Hubert placed bits of cloth in the doorways of the Wee Jas shrine. The next morning, all bits had been moved overnight. So they hatched another plan.

On night three of the Long Prayer, Phaux hid in the bushes below Silas' praying balcony, and Asher hid near the unused rear village gate. Phaux distracted some watchmen before they arrested him by using an illusion of shouting in the nearby house of the Justicar, and Asher avoided arrest, once the watch spotted him, by playing drunk. Phaux decided to let his good luck roll by investigating a large, burly shadow that he spotted moving down the street. He heard a shutter clacking, and upon arriving at it, found that he was much too short to see inside. Then, elsewhere, he heard a muffled cry, so he summoned the watch to help him. The watch found no wrongdoing, except for Phaux's being out after curfew.

On day four of the Long Prayer, Captain Strauss returned Phaux to Asher's house, hoping that Asher would keep him under control. So the two of them promptly went out to investigate the loose shutter. They found another crime scene nearby, involving a broken door and lots of spilled blood. Then they went back to the church to meet up with Hubert and Silas. Silas managed to find some sleep, and eventually met up with the rest of the party to hatch another plan. A watchman let the party know that the embattled aristocrats were well enough to hold a meeting, and would like to meet the PCs at the garrison on the next day's noon. Later that night, Phaux began his prayer, Hubert waiting near his open door, listening for movement at night, and Asher and Phaux went to the back village gate to sneak out.

Asher popped the lock on the lower crossbar, only to discover that 1) the upper crossbar would be impossible to move by himself, and 2) he needs to inspect things more carefully. So Phaux decided to try and escape using the one tree, inside the village wall, that grew near enough to make a jump for freedom. Phaux climbed the tree, crouched to spring, and fell flat on his face inside the wall. He rolled over from the crippling accident and prayed for healing, which returned him to normal health. Asher, not about to try the same stunt, noticed a stray dog rounding a corner. As it came closer, the night-sneakers realized that it was actually a shiny-eyed wolf, which bared its teeth and came at them slowly. Phaux tried to calm the beast, when it sprang on him, yanking him to the ground with its muzzle. Badly injured, Phaux stood up and began casting a spell. Finding his quarry less than dead, the wolf lunged in again, to finish the job. Asher wouldn't let Phaux go down without some aid, so he cut across the wolf's head with his short sword. The wolf turned back, unhurt, and bolted down the road.

Asher tried his luck at patching Phaux up, but it was no use. So he picked Phaux up and ran toward the church. Leaving a trail of blood, Asher veered around a couple watchmen ("return to your home!") and dropped Phaux off at Silas' feet, who was coming out to investigate the commotion. As he coughed up his last breath, Silas laid on hands to stop Phaux from dying. Moving the party indoors, they settled down to regroup.

XP awards:
Phaux - 350
Asher - 350
Silas - 300