Session 12, August 29

The Heroes survived the ambush at the Foxglove Townhouse and took the battle to the Skinsaw Cult.

Foxglove Townhouse
Krolmn believed the two Foxgloves to be some sort of trap, and did his best to escape the house. Marius, while trying to calm down the gnome, covertly unlocked the front door in case the group had to escape.

Meanwhile, aware that their guests were suspicious, the Foxgloves launched their attacks. While Twitch sipped at Iesha’s soup and Belor waited nervously, wondering why the two were back from the dead, the Foxgloves grabbed weapons and launched a surprise attack. The battle was brief but bloody in the confines of the kitchen.

When slain, the Foxgloves reverted to their true form – that of featureless, bipedal humanoids, apparently able to take the form of specific individuals. Who sent them or how they knew the Heroes’ names (including false names only provided to the city guard) was a mystery.

Lieutenant Kasadei
A few minutes later the city guard was knocking on the door to the Foxglove Townhouse. Jon answered while Marius hid the dead bodies. An investigator introduced herself as Lieutenant Kasadei, and wanted to ask the Heroes some questions.

Kasadei was in charge of the investigation into the recent murders, and had been informed of the Heroes arrival to Magnimar by Captain Licot, the guard who questioned them at Magnimar’s gate. Kasadei has already suspected Aldern Foxglove of being involved, and when she was informed of “Aldern” and “Iesha’s” return to Magninar, coincidentally on the same day as the Heroes’ arrival, she knew something was up.

Kasadei told the Heroes that Aldern had been associating with a fellow aristocrat, Aryk Highbridge, who ran a bathhouse in Magnimar. Highbridge had been Aldern’s alibi for one of the murders, and Kasadei suspected he was somehow involved.

After telling Kasadei some of what they knew, mainly around the similarities in murders in Sandpoint and Aldern’s fate, the Heroes told Kasadei they would be staying at the townhouse. However, upon the guards’ departure the Heroes left the townhouse and found rooms at a nearby inn, not trusting the city guard.

The Sawmill
The next day they visited the bathhouse, where Marius covertly discovered the offices of Highbridge while the others enjoyed massages and mud baths. After that they headed to the sawmill owned by the Seven Brothers, a mysterious group mentioned in Aldern’s ledger. The sawmill seemed to be a legitimate business, and the foreman was happy to provide a tour of the facilities (after a bribe from Jon).

However, Aldern’s ledger stated that he visited the sawmill at midnight, so the Heroes returned that night. Twitch changed into an owl and alighted on a top floor window, where he spied a group of cultists preparing to sacrifice someone. He began casting spells at the group, summoning swarms of bats and stirges. The other Heroes charged up the stairs of the sawmill, encountering the cultists on their way down.

The battle waged on as the cultists outflanked the Heroes, but through the use of powerful magics, the bravery of Belor, and the craftiness of Marius, the Heroes prevailed. Of the twelve cultists only one survived, and the Heroes dragged him to the barracks for interrogation with Kasadei.