Date: 01/20/10

XP Awarded: none

Start: The Shadow Clock in Magnimar's Underbridge section, early winter.

After catching their breath at the ground floor of the Shadow Clock, Gob and Kiria exit the tower and snake through the mostly-deserted streets of Underbridge until they reach the crowded neighborhood of Dockway. Hiding in an alleyway to ensure they aren't being followed, they make their way to the Lowcleft district and enter the Leaning Pine. At this hour of the day, the pub is mostly empty. As they drink mugs of beer, trying to make sense of what has just happened, the afternoon slips into evening. The tavern fills up, and Kiria sings some dwarven chants of remembrance for their fallen comrades. Finally the pub closes for the night and the two adventuring comrades stumble their way up the steep road into Grand Arch, too drunk to notice the two shadows following them at a distance.

Later that night, Kiria starts awake as a large, rough hand covers his mouth and an equally large arm restrains him on the floor where he passed out. In the dim moonlight that filters through the curtained window, he can make out two dark shapes in the room with him. A gag is stuffed into his mouth and he is roughly bound with rope, and he is forced to watch as his captors bind and gag Gob with the same cruel efficiency. Finally a lamp is lit, and the two remaining party members see a well-armed half-orc and a lithe Shoanti barbarian woman watching them.

The Shoanti woman tells Gob and Kiria that they are bounty hunters sent to collect the party for their role in Justice Ironbriar's murder. But instead of hauling the adventurers back to the city council for trial, she explains that they aren't satisfied that there isn't more going on than first appears. She ungags Kiria to allow him to tell his version of events. Kiria explains what happened in the Seven's Sawmill, embellishing a few things to make the party seem more heroic, including the final fight against Justice Ironbriar and how the clues they found in the Sawmill led them to the fateful encounter at the top of the Shadow Clock earlier in the day. The two intruders take in the story, then listen to Gob's story, which matches Kiria's. The barbarian says that they will think about things until the morning and make a decision then, and release Kiria and Gob to go sleep in their beds.

The next morning when Gob and Kiria awake (with raging hangovers), they find the two barbarians still in their house. Introducing herself as Elvisa and her partner as Garrick, the barbarian woman explains that they would like to help the party track down and defeat this creature that seems to be behind the string of murders afflicting Magnimar and Sandpoint, before returning to the City Council with news of Justice Ironbriar's death and proof that the party is not guilty. She suggests an alliance, and Gob and Kiria readily agree.

Since the dwarf and elf are still fairly wounded from the battle atop the Shadow Clock, they plan to rest at home for a couple days to regain strength. Elvisa agrees to make a shopping expedition to buy some goods and arrange for the repair of the rear window she broke while gaining entry to the townhouse. While she's out she investigates the Shadow Clock. In the streets below the weathered tower, she finds a body messily splattered over the grimy cobblestones of Underbridge. From what she can tell, it was once a large human male. While investigating, some of the residents of the neighborhood come to ask her about what happened. They tell Elvisa that they've seen large shadows moving around the tower at night, and enormous snake-like creatures crawling into the tower's ruined doors. Elvisa returns to the party's townhouse and informs them of what she found at the Shadow Clock.

That evening after dinner, Kiria hears the sounds of breaking glass in the rear of the townhouse, and moves into the kitchen to investigate. Through the kitchen window he spies three dark shapes moving into the house. With his weapons and armor upstairs, and the intruders blocking the hallway between the kitchen and the stairs, he retreats back to the dining room to inform his companions. Garrick, the half-orc barbarian, moves into the kitchen and grabs a rolling pin to use as a makeshift weapon, while Gob prepares a spell in the dining room. Elvisa also moves up to the closed door from the kitchen into the hallway and prepares to attack whatever comes through it.

When the door opens, the party is surprised to see a human-sized, hairy creature wielding a rapier. Elvisa reacts to punch the creature in the face, and Gob moves into the kitchen for a better line of sight. The creature lunges at Elvisa with the rapier and tries to bite her with its oversized, razor-sharp teeth, but the Shoanti dodges with a practiced roll. With a quick flurry of blows, she hits the creature with her fist, knee, elbow, a powerful kick, and finishes up with another powerful flow. With great surprise, the creature staggers back, allowing Elvisa to move into the doorway to block it. Kiria begins a rousing battle chant to inspire his comrades as they fight.

Garrick moves alongside Elvisa and reaches through the doorway to slam the creature with a powerful blow to the head from the heavy wooden rolling pin. Two more of the same type of creature move from the back entrance into the back foyer to guard the other doorways leading from the room. Gob moves into the kitchen to get a better shot, and a burst of magical missiles streak from his fingertips into the creature in the doorway. The rat-like humanoid again tries to bite Elvisa and stab her with its rapier, but she dodges out of the way again. Elvisa finishes off the creature blocking the kitchen door, then tumbles into the room to face another of the rat-like humanoids. Garrick moves forward to attack the nearest creature, again landing a solid blow with the rolling pin, but it doesn't seem to do any real damage. With another flurry of blows, Elvisa drops the creature she's fighting, and Gob finishes off the last one facing Garrick.

As the creatures fall to the floor, their features blend and shift as they change shape into humans. Investigating the bodies, the party finds a poorly-done tattoo of a rat on a sail on one of the humans. Debating what to do about the bodies, the party eventually decides that it's too risky to take them down to the traditional dumping places in Underbridge, and that they should find a nearby sewar to stuff them into. During the discussion, there is a knock on the townhouse's front door. Elvisa cautiously opens the door to find a man dressed as an actor, who asks for Kiria. Kiria appears and recognizes his friend Tomus from the Laughing Moon theatre that he used to work with. Tomus warns Kiria that a lot of people have been asking questions about Kiria and his friends, and some of these people seem quite questionable. He asks Kiria what is going on, but Kiria declines to answer. With a warning to be careful, Tomus disappears into the nighttime streets.

Once Tomus is gone, Elvisa goes out to scout the neighborhood and finds an iron grating in the neighborhood, past a couple large streets. Retrieving Deivon's massive warhorse from the stables he's been lodging in, the party loads the bodies onto the horse, covers them in tarps, and takes them to the sewar grating. Fortunately the group sees no city guards during the short journey, and Garrick pries the iron grating open. The bodies are quickly shoved inside, and the party returns to the townhouse to rest for the night.

The next morning there is another knock on the front door, and an agitated looking Varisian is standing outside. Kiria cautiously cracks the front door to find out that this man is looking for Signore. When Kiria tells him that Signore has gone out of town on an unexpected business trip, the man looks around nervously and asks Kiria to relay the message "The crow flies at sunset." Only a few minutes later another knock on the door turns out to be Sten, another of Kiria's friends from the Laughing Moon, who also looks quite worried. He relays the message that Tomus is dead, having been murdered the previous evening, before racing off to spread the news. Shocked, Kiria closes the door and sits down heavily.

Not long after that, yet another visitor appears - this time a distinguished older gentleman who asks for Gob. Gob recognizes the professor Samra from the Stone of the Seers wizardry school and invites him in to the study. The wizard asks Gob why investigators from the city watch would be stopping by the Stone of the Seers to ask about him. Gob says that there must be some mistake and that he'll get it sorted out, and the wizard warns Gob that if he doesn't, the Stone of the Seers will soon give the address of his townhouse to the city guard, then he leaves.

Later that evening, Gilda comes to the townhouse and asks if the party forgot about their deal with her. Kiria tells her that Deivon and Signore left, and she replies that Gob and Kiria are now responsible for the debt before implying that harm could come to their townhouse unless they come to settle the debt very soon. Unsettled, the party discusses plans and decides to visit Gilda the next morning.

As the party leaves the townhouse the next morning, the streets are abuzz with news of a new murder victim that was found. While the party ponders the meaning of this grim report, Kiria sees a bloodied and battered Shalelu stalking up the street towards the party. She explains that she was ambushed by a group of thugs after they asked her if she knew Kiria. She wounded several of them and managed to escape, but wanted to warn the party. She says she's heading back out into the frozen swampland outside the city walls where it is 'safer'.

On the way to the shady tavern in Underbridge where they met Gilda before, the party attracts a lot of attention from the rabble on the street. No one confronts the group, but they all watch the party with undisguised interest. At the tavern, the bartender sends them to the back room to meet Gilda as he closes the blinds and bolts the door. He practically begs them not to stay long, because he "doesn't want trouble." Gilda doesn't seem quite so nervous, but she does mention that the party has stirred up a lot of interest in themselves lately, and that she doesn't want to seem to be associated with them. She has more questions for the party about their interest in the Shadow Clock, since strange events have taken place there since the party's appearance a few days prior. Kiria successfully parries these requests for more information, so finally Gilda asks the party to repay their debt to her by going to some 'businesses' in the poverty-stricken Rag's End section of Magnimar and destroy them with a warning that they were sent by Gilda. She tells the party that she'll be disappearing for a few days, but will follow up with them later, then she shows the party out the back door of the tavern.

At this point Gob decides to return to his school to see if he can find any information about the creature encountered at the top of the Shadow Clock. Kiria accompanies him, while Garrick and Elvisa travel to the Bazaar of Sails to buy additional lengths of rope. As Gob and Kiria enter the Stone of the Seer school of wizardry, the scribe at the entrance welcomes them and informs Gob that Master Leis Nivlandis, the founder of the school is in his office and wishes to speak with him. As they head toward the office, the adventurers notice several grim-looking city guards in the school. As Gob passes his friend Karia, she pulls him aside and explains that the city guard are here to arrest him, and that he should leave right away. As the three quickly exit the school through a side entrance, she asks what's going on. Gob explains that he needs to find information about a type of creature he encountered, and Karia suggests visiting the retired Master Sorrell who is quite knowledgeable about this type of thing.

Karia guides the two to a comfortable-looking house in the Silver Shore district overlooking the Yondabakari river. Inside they meet an aged human wizard who listens to their story with great interest. At the conclusion, he wordlessly walks over to a long floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and begins thumbing through aged-looking tomes. He walks over to his desk with one and reads through it for about ten minutes before clearing his throat and looking up at Gob. Master Sorrell explains that until he heard Gob's description, he had thought this type of creature merely a fantastical legend. He goes on to name the creature a 'Lamia Matriarch', a creature as powerful and cunning as it is wicked and deceitful. Rumored to have powerful magic and the ability to change form, the mountain-dwelling lamia matriarchs are mentioned only in a few of the oldest tales of Varisia. He says that if such a creature is stalking the streets of Magnimar, then the city could be in grave danger. Master Sorrell asks Gob to return to give him more details if he encounters the creature again (and survives).

Leaving Silver Shore, Gob and Kiria meet up with Elvisa and Garrick back near the townhouse in Grand Arch and agree to return to the Shadow Clock to find the current situation there. From the ground, the tower looks similar to the last time the party was here, with the addition of a human body splattered over the uneven street. The group enter the tower and climb the stairs, carefully negotiating the sections of stair torn away by the plummeting bell. At the top where the external scaffolding wraps around the tower, Elvisa and Gob climb up while Kiria and Garrick wait below. The structure sags as the adventures proceed, and with a sudden groan and the snapping of timber, large sections slide off and slowly twist as they plunge to the streets below. Gob almost goes flying off the tower as large chunks of stone shatter the planks he is standing on, but he manages to grab a sturdy support just in time. Elvisa reacts quickly, dodge falling stone and timber and ends up at the bottom of the external scaffolding. The two return to the interior of the tower, having seen that large sections of the uppor portion of the tower have now fallen away, and the party climbs back down to the ground level.

Uncertain where to go to next, the party debates what leads they could follow to find the lamia matriarch responsible for the death of their friends. After some time, it is agreed that the stronghold of the Bilge Rats criminal gang - the ones that attacked their townhouse the other evening - might hold clues. Since it's just a few streets over, the party is soon standing in front of the Windsprite, a weather-worn ship grounded on the jagged rocks of the Underbridge shoreline. Several rickety-looking huts have been built around the bottom of the ship, effectively turning it into a haphazard complex. A wide pair of double doors stand closed in the center of the ship, and four guards armed with rapiers lounge in front of it.

Kiria demands entrance to see the leader of the Bilge Rats, and after a few moments a woman with long black hair tied back with a handkerchief appears above on what would have been the deck of the ship, but is now turned into a balcony. She asks the party their business, but seemingly unsatisfied with the answer, she tells her guards to kill the intruders and dispose of the bodies. The four guards advance menacingly, and three of the four undergo a sudden transformation. Their faces ripple and elongate and fur sprouts all over their body as they change shape into vicious-looking, human-sized bipedal rats.

Garrick charges forward with an overhead swing of his greatsword, and though he hits the wererat with a blow that should have killed any normal human, the wererat is only lightly wounded. Elvisa leaps through the air to deliver a powerful kick to another, and though her aim is true, the wererat seems unphased by the blow. Meanwhile, Kiria launches a volley of arrows that fail to damage the other. Gob launches a volley of magical missiles that strike the same one, and that brings it down with a screech of pain. The wererats lunge at the adventurers, attempting to bite with their oversized, sharpened teeth as they follow up with a thrust of their rapiers, but none manage a successful attack. Focusing her attention on the remaining human guard, Elvisa's flurry of fists takes him out of the fight. Garrick counter-attacks the wounded wererat and finishes him off with another powerful chop, and carries through the mighty swing to gut the final remaining guard.

As quickly as it started, the fight is finished. The wererats dead on the ground twitch and shudder as their bodies shrink back into their human forms. As the adventurers look at each other, the double doors on the ship swing open, and from the darkness inside, they hear a slow, mocking clapping. The female voice says "That was impressive. Perhaps we do have business to discuss after all. Please, won't you come in?"