Ragnorra Session 5

Start: 3 am, thursday, june (kythorn) 4, 1396

The party questioned the man they rescued. They found his name is Valiant, and he is working in some capacity with the Jafratti crime family.

Ronja and Kal escorted him to the surface, using the brothel basement entrance. Valiant revealed he did not know much, told the party if they needed to find him, he could be found at the Jafratti club. The week's password is "Holmwyck". The passwords reset Monday.

They decided to take an eight hour rest in the chamber they found the strange containers.

The party decided to enter the estate after a little chat. They entered through a disused closet, blocked by a heavy rug. It opened up to a strange warehouse. The brickwork seemed quite a bit newer in here.

Ronja determined there were a couple of secret squeeze-through passages through the boxes. She found out the two primary options appeared to be through the servants' quarters and the guard barrack.

Ronja introduced the party to her monkey, Sigge.

The party went through the servants' quarters. The servants were not at all surprised to see them, and assumed they were "Sammo's men", unbidden and unspecified by the party. They agreed that yes, indeed this was true. A servant made a comment about them being a bit less purple than usual.

They passed into another room and a Darstan guard directed them to where this "Sammo" was. He seemed somewhat more suspicious of them than the servants and certainly didn't rush to any assumptions, but the party was convincing and he had enough reason to believe their story.

On the way towards the stairs up, the party passed by some sort of familial shrine to house Darstan. It contained a few portraits with nameplates. They were as follows:

Yannick: A young man, no older than twenty is in this portrait. He is athletic, attractive, and is striking a heroic pose.

Geoffery: A tired, bald man in his late fourties or early fifties. He is clad in impressive armor, wielding a sword. There is a rose beneath his portrait.

Amaleigh: A middle aged woman. She looks a little simple minded. Her head is a little too rectangular and her jaw is oddly protruding.

Heinrich: A gray-looking elderly man. There is a rose beneath his portrait.

Geraldine: An elderly woman wearing orange and gold. She looks puffed-up and regal. There is an odd grayness to her features.

The party astutely observed that Amaleigh suffers from "blue blood sickness", also known as inbreeding. They also recognized the roses below the portraits signified the individual depicted has recently passed. They also determined a close familial resemblance between Geraldine and Heinrich. Geraldine and Heinrich appear to have a strong celestial bloodline. Kal determined them to have a Planetar progenitor, specifically. The strength of the blood appears just as strong in Amaleigh, but less in Yannick, although he appears to have stronger genes than his mother.

Thus,

Heinrich and Geraldine are first cousins or brother and sister. Their inbred daughter is Amaleigh. Geoffery was married into the family, and sired one son, Yannick.

Only Geraldine, Amaleigh, and Yannick survive. Both Heinrich and Geoffery have died recently. Under Cormyran law, Yannick is the head of the house. His sons will inherit the Darstan holdings. This also mandates any holdings he acquires through marriage would be ceded to the Darstan house. This can only occur if there are no surviving male heritors from the house Yannick marries into, and he marries the oldest inheriting daughter. Likewise, there is no available heir to house Darstan if Yannick Darstan dies. Judging by the portraits, it would appear Yannick is young and unmarried.

Kal had a private conversation with the guard on the ground floor.

The party continued to the ground floor. They explored and found a guard to the exit of the estate. The guard redirected them to the baths after they specified they were with Sammo. The guard assumed the party were sex workers, and gave the suggestion this was a common occurrence with Sammo, and he already had similar company. The guard let slip Sammo only does this while the lord of the manor is away. Whether this guard's interpretation of events is whole or complete is unclear.

They found another guard absolutely drunk in a different part of the estate. They got more information out of him, although nothing especially pertinent.

The party continued on to the locker room of the baths, and found sannish residue, a sap, and a dagger. This seemed to hold extra meaning to Vix.

Instead of entering the baths and confronting Sammo, they instead decided to deceive the guard to the exit.

Kal instead exited to the basement.

They explained that the guard who was drinking had also been abusing drugs, with a doctored bottle of roouddan spirits nicked from nearby the drunk guard. The guard to the exit identified the drunk guard as "Avery", and said he would take care of it.

The party took this distraction to investigate the lord's bedroom.

There was nothing of note in his bedroom, other than an incredibly gaudy mosaic of himself, a testament to his vanity.

The party investigated his study and found an opened letter to Yannick Darstan. They read it. It was as follows:

I hope you are well, my grandson. Play your part and you will be rewarded. For now, I require you to play along with these men and to not ask too many questions. It is best you know as little as possible and to not be concerned with my affairs. Your concerns are legitimate, but do not presume to ask questions beyond your station. Your patience will be rewarded. As my heir, I would not let anything befall you.

Signed, Your loving grandmother.

Ronja and Vix investigated the adjoining room. They found it to be a much less luxurious bedroom, and suspected it belongs to Sammo. Ronja obtained a sample of his hair.

They found an entire barrel of sannish, a dagger, and a sap.

Vix mentioned a connection to her investigation, and drew attention to sketches of dead women.

Kal returned with the guard from downstairs and explained the situation. The guard seemed convinced of the veracity of his cause, but urged the party to leave. He began to escort them out.


Vix will suffer the effects of Filth Fever in 11 hours (midnight).
Simon Fairchild the ghoul will need to consume flesh before 3 am, sunday, june (kythorn) 7, 1396. If he is not fed, he will suffer from diet dependence on flesh.

xp for session: 400
End: 1 pm, thursday, june (kythorn) 4, 1396