Dark Side of Korvosa

December 4, 2015 

A lone figure sits at a table, staring at the new spell books that Cress acquired.  Cress is nervous about this.  Cress had heard of Verus, most near Cheliax or its vassals have.  It has been three years since the Judges freed the town of Westgate, on so many levels.  Cress had barely had time to study the books when Verus showed up, demanding them.  Cress was quite surprised, though, when Klink and Halli came over and said that Verus would not take the book.  Verus seemed ready to fight but the dragons told him it wasn't his book and asked if he was a thief, then?  Verus instead tried to arrange it so that if something happened to Cress, the books would pass to him.  The dragons blocked this as well, saying that Verus would not have them.  The only consideration the dragons would give is to let Verus look at them while here and then leave.  

Cress had just been studying the books and figured out how to be an Arcanist.  It was a completely different way of looking at magic and he found that he understood attack spells now, when he hadn't before.  It wasn't as strong in illusion magic but he could do a lot more now and that suited him.  The book talked about magical theory and while he didn't understand all of it, he looked forward to what it could teach him.  Cress was still nervous about Verus.  If Verus decided to deny the dragons and take the book, Cress didn't doubt Verus' ability to take the book.  Or bring back the rest of the Judges to get the book.  

A few times, Cress would ask if Verus wanted food, and a terse nod or grunt seemed to indicate yes.  The snippets that he heard Verus mumble indicated that the book had even more magical theory and knowledge than Cress could even decipher at the moment.  He longed to read it again and again to get that knowledge.  

Eventually, as more dragons arrived, Klink would nod toward them and then Verus.  The dragons would watch him warily.  Whether it got to Verus or not, Cress couldn't tell.  Eventually Verus stood up, looked around the room, muttered something, and turned and walked toward the door.  However, two steps later, he disappeared.  Klink was looking at a rod that Scorch had brought with him.  When Verus disappeared, Klink cursed the Judge for doing that and yelled at everyone to hold on!  The thin veil and the rod don't react well.  Cress and the others move forward to help.  

And then they are elsewhere.

Cress vaguely recognizes the Shadow Plane.  They are in a copy of their Inn.  There is no fire and the colors seem muted, or at least not as bright.  And something is chewing on something else.  Grohlyn steps forward and tells the things to leave.  They turn and the group sees ghouls, or maybe emaciated humans, chewing on a corpse.  They say their is no claim on the place, so they can be there.  Grohlyn again tells them to leave and attacks.  The ghouls are bent on staying.  After a few hits, though, and one of the ghouls going down, Grohlyn claims the place, and the ghouls then leave.  

Grohlyn feels a bit different and senses the Inn but shrugs it off.  This is and isn't the Inn and he wants to be in his home.  They step outside and Lazarus notices a figure sneaking around.  When called out, a vampire comes forth.  The vampire introduces himself as Chester and when he finds they have claimed the house, he backs off.  It could also be because of the dragon that shows up.  The dragon says he is The Shadow that Eats the Souls That Dwell in the Gloom and Chester is ready to leave.  The dragon offers to send them home but they all know that will come at a price.  They refuse and he says he will be to ask again the next day.  The group wonders why the dragon thinks they will still be there but is confident they will be.  

After the dragon leaves, some giants, made in part of shadow stuff, attack.  They don't ask, they don't barter, they just attack.  The group defeats them handily but it does take effort.  

Wanting to find out more, they head to the bridge to go to the main city.  Crossing the bridge this time is different.  The group never thought about the bridge before in their Korvosa.  It was there, over the river, and they walked it to the city.  This time, though, it's strange.  The bridge supports are older.  It creaks more.  There are more gaps than they remember.  Even the river is different.  The things in it are too long, too bulky, and too sinuous than what they usually see.  Where there used to be clear areas in the river, now it's all murky with black ink blots.  All of them are happy to get across and put it behind them.  

There are people but even they are a bit more subdued.  A few vendors but they don't get in their faces.  The vendors cry out what they have and then turn away without interest being shown.  People walk with their heads down, avoiding others unless they know them.  No waves of hello or cheerful smiles.  Oh, they see smiles as two people greet each other.  It's just different.  

As they approach the square, they are confronted by some paladins who look different.  A bit more color in them.  The paladins introduce themselves and when they find out the group is from Korvosa, ask if they are the replacements and where the rest are?  The group tells them they aren't the replacements and the paladins aren't happy but still invite them back to their base.  At the base, Enrico and Leonara introduce themselves as the ones in charge.  They have been fighting inhabitants over here in the shadow plane.  They did so at the king's behest but it has been months since anyone has come through.  When told the king is dead, Enrico and Leonara get ready to head back.  However, as the group explains more and more about what happened with the king, Enrico says he can't take them back.  The only method he had to go back is a ritual that opens up into the castle!  If the queen is as bad as they say, this won't go well.  

They are introduced to a mage, named Stefan, and say they are looking for some spell books.  Stefan is reluctant, as he wanted to learn more from it, but understands the need to have allies who might be able to get them home, so parts with it.  Cress wants to tear into it and start learning right away!  Now is not the time.  

As the group explains what happens, they are disheartened to hear two things.  One, the dragon they encountered is powerful and will expect them to be there the next day or he will find them.  Even as the group explains they didn't mean it that way, it won't matter.  The dragon will take it that way.  Two, when Grohlyn claimed the Inn, here that has power.  By doing so, he made it a base, so that only those welcomed can get inside.  That did explain why he could say that Cress wasn't invited anymore and it pushed Cress outside of the Inn.  But that same binding would carry across planes and if Grohlyn left, he would be leaving a part of himself here.  Enrico, Leonara, and Stefan have no idea what that would mean as they all have a ritual to unbind themselves when they leave.  

The paladins agree to help them, and help them they do.  Clerics and paladins who can cast, come forward and recharge any healing wands with what they can spare.  They also say they will go with them back to the Inn to help them remove Grohlyn's claim.  After a bit of prep, they again go.

Crossing the bridge doesn't get easier.  Shadows jump and it makes walking tough.  The gaps seem to move and shift, causing every step to be tough.  Once across, they go to the Inn, and Halli finds them!  She says they have been looking but couldn't go far from the Inn.  She says she has magic to get them back but as she holds up a rod, similar to what pulled them to the Shadow Plane but not exact, Cress watches as the spell book drains it of energy!  No portal opens and Halli says they will have to wait for it to recharge.  They discuss options but decide to go back to the paladins and be honest about who and what Halli is.  The paladins help them again, glad for their honesty.  They also say they will try and help the paladins once they get across.  After resting, Halli says the wand is ready to try again.  

They go to an area off of a small market and Halli has Cress stand far away and out of sight!  She is able to open a portal and gets them all across, with Cress last.  As the portal closes, Halli says that the rod is drained again and she isn't sure why.  The group then wants to help the paladins but realize that they didn't set up anything!  No contact points.  No times.  And they are based in the castle, which the group can't enter and use magic!  At least, not without causing problems!  They ponder this and the many other things they have learned.  

GM Notes

• Darn.  Our last playing session of this year, due to obligations and how the holidays fall this year.  We are playing board games if we do get together and our next regular session will be in January.  
• When we started this campaign, I said core classes only.  I wanted to distinguish this from other campaigns but also didn't want to overwhelm Dan as a new player and have the guys playing something non standard.  As we have progressed, now I'm seeing non Core classes as being a reward, or something to set them apart.  If few other characters, PC or NPC, are non Core classes, it does make the PCs even more special. It helps that most Core classes can nearly replicate non Core but not exact.  
• The other thing I'm doing is finally making Golarion and PF my own.  I like the idea of prestige and non core classes as rewards, either for progression or story, rather than another choice.  It also keeps it simple and makes those things special.  At some point, I will probably have to "retcon" something I did in, or just shrug it off as me not knowing my rules yet, but that should work.  
• I thought about making this a journal entry and hinting at more with Verus.  However, this is not Verus' story, so decided to instead tell it from the current characters POV.  I took liberties with what I think Cress was thinking and if Bob wants to correct me on those points, I will understand.  
• I also found this very interesting from a player standpoint.  To me, players don't treat NPCs as they do PCs.  If Verus had really found powerful artifacts like that with an NPC, he would have taken them and probably not thought anything of it.  When I told the player, Brook, to tell Bob that Bob's character just lost the book, though, Brook hesitated.  I'm sorry but I liked that.  It made a player think about how they treat NPCs compared to PCs because Brook didn't want to take Bob's treasure!  I'm hoping to point this out in future things for that perspective.  
• I also like the idea of having previous characters make an appearance.  I read about setting a scene in the past and instead of telling it, running it by assigning characters to the players.  I haven't done that well.  But having a player play and old character worked out!  It just takes time to be able to do!  
• I'm also mulling in my head how to tell more stories of the Judges.  Not only because maybe not all of their stories are told but it also sets up telling other character's stories later.   
• The bad thing is that long gaps make it tough to tell a story.  The group was not only in the Shadow plane for the book but also to find out more information about Kozavan.  They did find out about a weakness and that it's doubtful the Queen can be hurt without a particular sword.  Then I think the players overthought it and instead of doing some research on it, thought they should just know where to get it.  I also need to learn how to show them they can act, even if it's via research, and don't always have to react.  It's a continuous learning process, though, which I enjoy.  
• I'm also finding that having the characters a level or two behind the suggested level works well!  The fights are a bit more tough, but not unreasonably so, and it allows me to do two or three, instead of four or five fights.  They are still "easy" but it keeps them on their guard.  I'm liking it.   

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