Fiftieth Session - the Man of Gold

Session resumes with Max paying 150 GP worth of weregild for Melvin the Merchant’s deceased guard and camel, facilitating a chance to buy his magical items. Unfortunately Melvin’s wares are extremely expensive, and the party moves on after buying a single Superior Healing Potion.

The Keepers head  back to Azkaresh, and Ishaq sends Celus away while dodging awkward questions. It’s then off to Leona’s stash of magic items, in the west end of the city. There’s no sign of being followed, although Max does need to haul Leona out of sight when they pass by some Starred Guard.

Leona takes them to the backroom of a pawn shop, where they receive five items:
 * 1) Celia receives a magical pearl that can cast Revivify on someone dead for half an hour when inserted into the body’s mouth
 * 2) Ishaq receives bracers of +2 AC
 * 3) Max receives a +1 axe that also boosts HP
 * 4) Alana receives a druidic staff imbued with many spells
 * 5) Markoris receives boots of speed

It’s agreed that Leona will stay with them at the CG barracks as Celia’s ‘special friend.’ It is also established that Celia does have bones - they’re in her bag. The party gets a long rest, with Max and Ishaq taking turns on watch.

In the morning, Celia reveals that she Communed with the Lady of the Lasting Embrace in the night. She received positive confirmation that Lord Roe is indeed a dragon as Ishaq had theorized, and that stealing from him would be an extremely big mistake. She implied some serious consequences, but could not elaborate as Commune has its own restraints. Celia felt that LOTLE was ambivalent on Ishaq's plan to take a diplomatic route with Lord Roe.

Celia tries to convince the party to walk away from Azkaresh’s troubles entirely, but Ishaq believes Roe can be aligned with due to their shared dislike of Raithir imperialism and mutual interest in independence, and Max is loath to walk away from a contract. Alana is, of course, personally invested in retrieving the Sunstone of Sarashim. Markoris sides with Celia, wanting to escape potential conflict.

The party enters discussion and decide they could use outside confirmation on a few details. Ishaq contacts the Warden via the sending stone and encourages Max to explain his point. The Warden confirms that Lord Roe is almost certainly the Man of Gold responsible for warping the Mind Flayers into Dream Devourers through the Negative Plane, and that he can get the party into the Oasis Estate through the underground. They set a meeting at LOTLE’s Temple to make plans.

Max gives Celia his +1 Mace, as he has taken a strong liking to the new Battleaxe. The party unties Leona and return her weapons and magic focus. Then it’s back into the Catacombs.

They meet the Warden and explain the situation. The Warden relates how the Gold Man descended into the Underdark in humanoid form to warp his Hive. The Warden is familiar with the Oasis Estate, and warns it’s well-guarded, but that he can get them there via boat on an underground river. He also says he can teleport the party to safety if need be, but everyone needs to be standing close to him.

-Marching Order: A lengthy discussion about planning ensues, as the Keepers are now faced with a terrifying enemy behind their troubles in Azkaresh, and no good options. Ishaq wants to talk Roe into being an ally against Raith and believes he will be invested in news of the Godwar, as the dragon probably understands what the Sarashim Sunstone truly is and therefore knows about divine dominions. Max and Markoris want to steal the Sunstone as subtly as possible, and Max distrusts LOTLE’s warning via her cleric Celia. Celia wants to say ‘fuck it’ and run away entirely. Alana wants Ishaq to slow his roll re: aiming Roe at Raith, but cares more about the retrieving the Sunstone than anything else. They eventually all decide to go in together like the fuckups they are and take their chances.
 * 1) Warden
 * 2) Ishaq
 * 3) Max
 * 4) Celia
 * 5) Leona
 * 6) Alana
 * 7) Markoris
 * 8) Raul

Despairing at their chances of survival, Max asks Markoris to take revenge on CYRUS CAYNE for him if Max doesn’t survive. Max explains that Cyrus sent him to Traitor’s Keep and killed everyone he cared about, and expresses that he thinks Markoris has the best chance of survival in this nightmare. Markoris is skeptical of revenge, but says he’ll think about it.

After an hour into their underground travel, Ishaq discusses the Host Radiant with the Warden while the rest of the party sinks into anxiety. Ishaq is confident about their diplomatic route, convinced that he can persuade Lord Roe into amiable terms. When they reach a narrowed path, they enter an abandoned underground settlement carved into the walls. The Warden explains this is the edge of his people’s hive, about fifty inhabitants, and admits his people do eat brains to survive even when they haven’t been warped by the Negative Plane. He reassures the party that he had convinced his people to stay away from them, and that his people pose no threat to their mortal brains right now.

They arrive at an underground dock on the edge of a rushing underground river. They set off in a boat, and Alana eventually notices that they are coming up on daylight - Warden explains the Oasis Spring is open to the upper world. Max asks Leona for any final advice or information, and she indicates she may be able to talk them past the guards.

Guards are spotted up ahead, and as the boat enters beneath the opening to the above ground oasis, more are seen above. The party sails stealthily past the first guard while his back is turned, collectively agreeing upon the diplomatic approach. The Warden disguises himself to look humanoid, and Ishaq leaps out of the boat, quickly persuading the second and most immediate guard into granting the party an audience with Lord Roe, using the premise that Roe would be expecting them and it was in the guard's interest to surrender them without conflict.

The party is then taken into the Estate proper. The place is gorgeous, every inch carved in elaborate geometric patterns, more luxurious than even the Governor’s palace. They are taken into the Throne Room of Lord Roe, and Max notices there are runes engraved into its surfaces. He points them out to Ishaq, who then identifies them as tied to magic of lightning, flame, and travel to a dream plane - the room is a death trap for the party if combat develops.

Lord Roe arrives, appearing elven and naturally dressed in lots of gold as per his aesthetic, with long blond hair and gold eye shadow for accent. Despite his immense age, he looks like he’s in the prime of his life. He moves to his throne and begins to speak. He admits he underestimated the party when he sent only three assassins. A regret. His terms are brisk: he wants the Keepers out of his business and out of Azkaresh, and badges them never to return.

Ishaq begins with charm and flattery, suggesting that it wouldn't be in their mutual interest to obey and abandon Azkaresh. They hadn't finished their business, and Crown would simply send in replacements -- perhaps individuals who are less open-minded about Roe's personal dominion, less willing to meet him on his terms. More than that, argues Ishaq, there are world-changing forces afoot. Carefully, he broaches the topic of the SunStone and the Godwar, but the party quickly realize that Roe never heard of the latter, and Ishaq can tell that ignorance annoys the dragon. Roe claims that he’s careful to keep Gods out of his business, and the reason he took the Stone is to prevent the mortals from using the portal of Sarashim and threatening his plans. Ishaq informs him that his plot comes too late; the Empress knows what the god-keys and portals do, she has been collecting, and she will be coming for Sarashim's soon enough. This is Roe's problem as much as it is theirs, and therefore they could only benefit from working together. Ishaq rolls very well on his series of Persuasion checks (two natural 20s for double 38s, 31, 33) and argues that the party need not be Roe’s enemies, that in fact they come before him as individuals with the same distaste of Raith and the same interest in re-balancing power. Ishaq then reveals that the party knows he is a dragon, and implies that this knowledge is kept safe when Roe can watch it more directly -- again, their agendas align.

Roe is not thrilled that the party knows his true nature. He also makes it clear he despises humanoids in general. He admits that the Keepers’ interruptions in his business have been mostly incidental so far, but his patience is clearly strained by the party’s meddling. However, Ishaq has persuaded him. No longer interested in killing the party, Roe reveals his master plan, that he wants to take Azkaresh back and thus liberate it from Raithir occupation. He demands they complete a task for him to prove themselves worthy of his allyship: killing the Governor.

As the second-most powerful person in Azkaresh, the Governor’s death will allow him to claim the city for his own legally. The Governor is a symbol of Raith’s hold on the city, and a structural complication.

There’s a long, tense silence. Max speaks up and points out that as a non-Raith god, weakening Sarashim by taking her Stone inadvertently helps strengthen the Raithir pantheon’s position in the Godwar. He also says that if Roe wants the party gone, the price is the return of the Stone and leaving the Hive alone, but if he’s willing to ally with them, killing the Governor is off-limits.

Roe makes it clear that Sarashim’s portal’s presence near Azkaresh is unacceptable. Markoris raises the potential of moving the portal, and Alana is not happy about that tidbit being publicly revealed. Ishaq offers to bloodlessly remove the Governor from office without assassination, warning that violence will draw a Raith response, and Max suggest blackmail as an option. Roe thinks on the offer.

Lord Roe grudgingly grants the party a week to remove the Governor through their own means, seeming particularly pacified by the idea of blackmail, and in return he would surrender the Stone and accept the relocation of Sarashim’s portal so no mortals (outside the Druidic circle tasked with its protection) could interfere with it. As the audience closes, Ishaq directly asks Roe, in Draconic, what the plan is for a new Roe-led Azkaresh. Roe says he remembers Azkaresh’s glory days as the Jewel of the Desert before its wealth flowed to Raith, and wants to restore it. Ishaq, whose mother heralds from these lands, tells Roe that he would like to see that.

Celia and Alana both roll Insight and perceive that Lord Roe clearly values his own wealth extremely highly, and that his plans for ruling Azkaresh must reflect that - he is not telling his true intentions.

The fiftieth session of Traitor's Keep closes with the end of the parley and the beginning of a new phase of the Keepers’ mission.