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Addermarch Campaign - Session 2

The Cursed Dagger’s Tale: in which a cursed dagger wreaks havoc

Featuring: Yvan Greenrabbit, Drou, Fazoth de Brune
In Taelgar: Apr 28, 1715 DR to May 01, 1715 DR
On Earth: Sunday Sep 15, 2024
Torvaine Watch and Roscombe

The party discovers and grapples with the dangers of a cursed dagger, leading to tragic revelations and new allies in Roscombe.

Timeline

  • Apr 28, 1715 DR, early afternoon: Crossing the hoarding to the eastern tower, the party fends off stirges lurking in the rafters, then follows a blood trail downstairs and ransacks an armory whose locked chest resists them. In the smithy the heroes slay the undead smith Bartoz, discover how the twin winches work, and coordinate across the bridge to raise Torvaine Watch’s main gates.
  • Apr 28, 1715 DR, late afternoon: Venturing to the commander’s quarters they find Marshal Hildo Brask’s corpse, confront the wrathful ghost of Sir Einrik Arpaad, seize a cursed Serpentine Dagger, and retreat as debris hurls after them.
  • Apr 28, 1715 DR, evening: After recovering Brask’s body and a treasure chest, the group quits Torvaine Watch and camps beside the road with Oona Stonebridge and her wagon.
  • Apr 29, 1715 DR: The caravan travels without incident along the uneven forest road through the Torvaine Forest.
  • Apr 30, 1715 DR, morning: South of Roscombe the party meets Sir Gareth Howell and a troop sent by Lady Elowen Duval to investigate the silence at the watch; Fazoth’s account of the curse persuades Gareth to let the dagger remain in his care.
  • Apr 30, 1715 DR, evening: The companions reach Roscombe and secure lodging.
  • May 01, 1715 DR: Fare-welling Oona, they report to Lady Duval, claim a bounty for recovered arms, and are asked to consult priest Owen Tavish of The Sibyl regarding the dagger; Duval also relates a rider’s full tale of the tomb-found blade and the massacre at Torvaine Watch.

Cast of Characters

Places

Narrative

Wednesday, April 28th, 2 Robert I

Early afternoon, continued. After taking a short rest in the barracks, Drou, Fazoth, and Yvan proceed across the hoarding to investigate the other tower, spotting Oona Stonebridge on the road below nervously tending her horses. While crossing, the party is attacked by stirges hiding in the rafters, but quickly fights them off. The stirges, however, presumably explain the peddler drained of blood on the road. Reaching the far tower, the party descends the stairs (ignoring several closed doors), following a trail of blood. On the next level, they find an empty common room and a locked door, which is quickly dismantled with fire and eldritch force, revealing an armory. After a quick search turns up only mundane weapons and a chest they cannot unlock, the party moves on.

Continuing down the stairs to the lowest level, the party entered the smithy, encountering the undead remains of Bartoz, the smith. As he turned to attack with his giant maul, Fazoth wrestled for the weapon with his mage hand while Yvan made fire appear and Drou hit him with a starry wisp. As Fazoth struggled for the maul, the smith attacked, off-balance, missing, and giving Fazoth an opening to stab him with both daggers, pinning him to the wall and then killing him.

After the fight, the party finally finds the winch room, but realizes that it requires operating from both sides as once to raise the gates. Now that it is clear how the winches operate, though, it is easy enough for Fazoth and Drou to cross over and coordinate raising the winches.

Late afternoon. After raising the gates, but before deciding to leave the Watch, the group decides to explore the top of the tower, where the the Watch commander Sir Enrik Aarpad’s quarters probably are. Ascending the stairs, the first thing the party finds is the dead body of Marshal Hildo Brask, apparently prevented from turning into a zombie by his holy symbol of The Mother. As the air gets colder and the lights dimmer, the party continues towards the ghost of Sir Einrik Arpaad. They pass through his study (where they find a locked chest, with coins and items marked with the Aarpad falcon crest) before finding the ghost in the bedroom, where they see the dead body of Sir Aarpad, a strange dagger with a bejeweled hilt lying next to his hand.
The ghost initially ignores them, but when the party asks about the dagger, it becomes enraged, turning with a shriek that frightened Yvan, who flees. While the ghost is focused on the fleeing Yvan, Fazoth subtly manages to grasp the dagger with mage hand, and then both he and Drou run as they are pelted with flying debris.

In the barracks below, the party regroups and examines the dagger. Fazoth recalls that the gems in the handle – serpentine – are often used to enhance mind-altering enchantments. Deciding to test the dagger, Fazoth’s familiar touches the weapon and immediately turns to attack Fazoth, knocking him unconscious with its sting. Fortunately, Drou and Yvan manage to drive it away, and stabilize Fazoth.

The party leaves Torvaine Watch (although Drou and Yvan go back later to recover the Marshal’s body – for burial – and the treasure chest), and spends the night camped with Oona, who is a little disappointed the party didn’t discover more about the origin of the cursed dagger but admits dealing with ghosts and curses is more than she hired them for.

Thursday, April 29th, 2 Robert I

The party travels uneventfully on uneven roads through Torvaine Forest, escorting Oona and her cart.

Friday, April 30th, 2 Robert I

In the morning, on the road to Roscombe, the party meets Sir Gareth Howell, a knight in the service of the castellan of Roscombe, Lady Elowen Duval. He is traveling with a small company of knights to investigate the silence from Torvaine Watch. After some slightly stilted conversation, where the party is reluctant to report what happened, with Oona Stonebridge’s encouragement Fazoth speaks convincingly about the Serpentine Dagger, the curse, and the tragedy of Einrik Arpaad’s death, convincing Gareth that he is skilled in the arcane and will keep the dagger safe.

With that, the soldiers continue south, and the party continues to Roscombe, arriving in the evening.

Saturday, May 1st, 2 Robert I

In Roscombe, the party says farewell to Oona Stonebridge, and meets with Elowen Duval to discuss the dagger and the events at Torvaine Watch, as well as receive a bounty for the weapons and treasure recovered from the watch.

Lady Duval asks that Fazoth meet with Owen Tavish, a priest of The Sibyl is Roscombe, who may be able to help with the Serpentine Dagger. She also says that a rider has come in from the watch, with news, and she reports the full story to the party:

It seems that a soldier, foraging in the woods just before the recent storms, stumbled across the tomb of a forgotten warrior from the days when the Dominion of Avatus subjugated these hills. In the tomb, he found some coins and a strange dagger which carried a deadly curse. Returning to the watch, he turned the dagger over to the smith, Bartoz, who after discussion with the temple steward, Wulfram, felt the deadly magic of the dagger must be contained and feared its influence on the watch, especially with the storm. The second-in-command, Marshal Hildo Brask, brought the dagger to the attention of the commander of the watch, Sir Einrik Arpaad, who sadly was overcome by the curse. Sir Arpaad killed Brask and then slaughtered the entire watch, before being mortally wounded by the smith Bartoz. The evil of his act bound his soul to the earth, and he rose as a ghost.
We end the session that evening, at the Traveler’s Rest in Roscombe.