I Provoke a Riot: Campaign Diary

The party arrived in the Lower Ward, wandering down a street thoroughly blanketed in Athar pamphlets: “The Myth of the Gods”; “The Power Within You”; “The Death of the Divine”. Heading in the direction of the church, the party (and Daniphe) stopped by a small stand doling out free mulled cider. A bariaur approached carrying four mugs, asking if they had time for a drink and a chat. Ragados asked back if they had a permit for their cider stall. A dwarf joined the group, and showed a writ from Factol Terrance of the Athar. Factol Terrance of the Athar doesn’t have any real legal authority, his name just carries a bit of clout, but Ragados was placated.

The dwarf asked the adventurers about their respective faiths. Ragados had no interest in discussion, thank you, he was comfortable worshipping Azuth. M’narr thought that the ascendance of his deity, Vlaakith, to demi-godhood was a refutation of Athar philosophy. 12-Bar was less certain, but knew he wanted to feel divine inspiration, and other spiritual experiences. The dwarf, Morkral, assured him such a thing was possible without faith in a specific Power. M’narr probed Morkral on the issue of the Old Church, but Morkral skirted the issue and gave a diplomatic answer. The party downed their cider and moved on.

Arriving in the area of the Old Church, the planewalkers were quickly distracted by a trinket shop called Jedma’s Curios. Scanning around, the only magic item found was a shrunken tiefling head. 12-Bar bought an ocarina, and Jedma was kind enough to throw in the shrunken head for free! 12-Bar suspected it to be cursed, but took it anyway. Daniphe tried to convince Jedma to flee the plague, but Jedma was having none of it.

Heading on, Daniphe lead everyone to her sister’s bedsit in an abandoned tavern. Inside they found only an old bedroll, a statuette of Aoskar, and a flower with two red blooms: Demogorgon’s Rot. M’narr burns the flower and inhales the smoke it gives off. He feels ill, but that illness manifests as violent paranoia, so he isn’t inclined to share his feelings. party decides to wait in the tavern and see if anyone comes. M’narr suddenly thinks it’s very important to build a defensive barricade. Ragados is peery. Daniphe voices concern about the locals, but is unable to persuade the trio and soon abandons them. 12-Bar watches out the boarded window as Daniphe speaks to the neighbours, then wanders off. After half an hour of watching, 12-Bar notices the street getting busier. And busier. And busier. Stepping outside and Nine Hells have broken loose. Ragados and M’narr stop a quick burglary. Fleeing Cagers are screaming about Steel Plague and there’s two dwarves having a hammer fight in a back alley.

Seeing all this chaos, the party decides it’s finally time to tell the local Athar guards what’s happening. As they get to the church, the Athar leader is very flustered. Things don’t get any calmer when Signers fly from a nearby rooftop towards the church. Things get even less not calm when M’narr has the sweaty epiphany that this was the attack he’s been expecting all day, and shoots a fireball into the air. The Signers retreat. The Athar guards rush the adventurers, and there's a scuffle before 12-Bar stops them dead with a hypnotic pattern. But what now?

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