Spirits and Briars: From Sandpoint to Thistletop

What awaits the adventurers atop Thistletop?

Jervas Stoot [was] a timid artist known for intricate bird carvings…. The murders [of five years ago] came to be known as the work of the Chopper for the horrific way in which the deaths occurred: carved to bits. Not even Jervas Stoot could remember what wrong [the smithy] Das Korvut had done him… [but] when Jervas came upon Madellin and Simon in the street outside the Korvut home, they weren’t his intended victims, but in a flash of [malice], Jervas saw the agony he could inflict on Das by taking his wife and child.

[W]hen during one of Das’s public nightmares, a boy is seen outside Das’s house, flitting through the shadows and disappearing from sight, the angry smith demand[ed] an investigation of the Isle, even turning to Sandpoint’s local heroes to get it. ¹

The adventurers swiftly leave the Catacombs under Sandpoint in order to return to the surface. The time was now slightly in the afternoon, around a few of hours before sunset. The Heroes decided to venture to Chopper’s Isle in order to look into discovering the whereabouts of the Smithy’s son’s remains. On the way there, they were stopped by a guard at the Garrison who asked them about their investigation into the caves below the town.

Ascending the cliff-top to Chopper’s Isles took the better part of an hour, but it did not take much longer to find the burnt remains of Chopper’s Hut. A search revealed the outline of a stone slab covering serving as a hatchway to a chamber below the house as well as masterwork artisan’s tools for wood carving. During this search, Darius fell into a 30-foot pit that was slightly hidden below the overgrown briars and vines.

[W]alls of hewn stone decorated [the walls] haphazardly in primitive paintings of vicious birds. Two stone doors, each [depicting] a strange symbol that resembles a seven-pointed star, stand closed.

Under the Hut was found a steep and winding staircase that wound down to a dark antechamber. Leica identified these ruins as having the same architecture as the Thassilonian Catacombs they had just investigated. The dark antechamber contained a looming man-shaped statue of Pazuzu, the abyssal lord of flying creatures. As soon as the Heroes entered this room, many of them began to hear the sound of solemn laughter and crying.

Further investigation of the ruins found a room with a strange book containing passages detailing Pazuzu and his minions, including the Sandpoint Devil. The other hallway followed through to another stairwell that contained what was identified as a haunt. Thankfully, before any harm was done, the haunt was willfully fought off. The lower floor contained a final antechamber with a strange blanket in a corner. When the blanket was disturbed by Darius, a spirit suddenly sprung from the shadows and went to strike him. A few minutes later, the spirit was finally defeated after identifying him as the spirit of the smithy’s son, Simon. Leica, however, came out of this conflict unconscious and put into some strange manner of magical slumber.

The blankets revealed the remains of Simon; these were brought back to Das Korvut who thanked the Heroes tearfully and promised them a greater discount at their store along with free masterwork weapons or shields to the party. Each party member took a respective masterwork item as a reward. Additionally, the Father managed to heal Leica of her ailment and awaken her from her slumber with a Dispel Magic spell.

As the sun has been long set, the adventurers finally retired to The Rusty Dragon and slept the night away. In the morning, a few words were exchanged with Ameiko and the adventurers were quick to go off and finish a few tasks.

Leica stayed at the inn, Marco had stayed the night at the brothel, and Conall and Darius went to the Savaries in order to look into purchasing pastries and investigate rumours in the town. Outside the door, Conall was stopped by a young woman who was identified as the General Store owner’s daughter, Shayliss. She requested his help to get rid of some pests at the store. Conall was quick to follow her but found out, to his horror, that Shayliss was not looking to kill any rats but to bed him. She had removed her bodice and enveloped Conall in an embrace near her cot in the cellar of the general store. When Shayliss’ father came down and witnessed this, he chased Conall out and yelled at him to never return. Marco, sadly, was also brought into this fiasco by becoming Shayliss’ next victim.

It is at this time the Heroes finally decide to look into investigating Thistletop to the east of Sandpoint and into Nualia who was identified to be there from Tsuto’s journal. After getting a complementary light horse and wagon rental for two days from the Goblin Squash Stables. After an hours ride to the woods surrounding Thistletop, the Heroes were surprised to meet Shalelu outside the woods. She offered to help guide them through the woods; the group stumbled across a trail leading to the shoreline and to a series of tunnels under the briar.

Shalelu identified tracks of goblins all over these tunnels and something large, like a horse or some manner of quadruped, to the east along the tunnels. Shalelu took it upon herself to split off from the party and go west. After a short fight with goblin dogs, the Heroes managed to find themselves at a rope bridge leading to Thistletop and a small stockade on its surface.

In this session, the party encountered or received the following:

• a haunt within the ruins under Chopper’s Hut awarded 1200 xp.
• the spirit of Simon Korvut, a strange undead ghost that sapped the creatures it touches of their voices, awarded 1200 xp.
• a book of Pazuzu was found along with a scroll of summon monster III (summons a winged fiendish constrictor snake only).
• the party was awarded respective masterwork items by Das Korvut.
• the party was offered a chance at purchasing Chopper’s Isle for 2000 gp.
• Goblin Dogs (4) — 400 xp each.
• Goblins (2) — 135 xp each.
• Goblin Commandos (2) — 400 xp each.

A total of 5070 xp was rewarded; this means 1267 xp was rewarded to each respective party member. This places all players at 6267 XP. Furthermore, one hero point was rewarded to all party members for roleplaying and great performance in this session.