Robbie, one of my DM's, is currently running The Curse of The Azure Bonds for us. This module is originally from 2.0 system and Rob is having to convert it to the Pathfinder 3.75. I am playing Blackberry, a Ranger4/Rogue3 halfling (character sheet here). So far, we have gotten 3 of the 5 tattoos removed and we have just left Zhentil Keep.
Up until this point, we've been pretty direct in going straight to the main fight. This time, however, we didn't really know where to go once we got to Zhentil Keep. We had a dream of a man wearing the armor of Bane and his face was covered in tattoos and at his feet was the sword of Lythander. But when we got to Zhentil Keep, we realized that all of the priests of Bane had their faces tattooed as a sign of their devotion.
We entered the city in the company of another female halfling named Stevie Nickleplate, a renowned bard but we parted ways once we were inside the city. She told us that she would be playing at a tavern called the Gorey-eyed Beast and I told her that we would come and see her perform. We decided to stay at an inn called The Hero's Rest but quickly left when we realized it was staffed by the undead. Blackberry thought it would've been neat to stay there but the paladin negated it. Instead we stayed at a place with the word "evil" in it's name (I can't remember it).
We decided to go see Stevie at The Gorey-eyed Beast but the bartender, a beholder, said he'd never heard of her. We asked him about the man with the sword of Lythander and he told us to visit a sage in the graveyard outside of the north side of town. We crossed over into the New City with the intention of going to the graveyard. On our way to the graveyard we visited the temple of Torm. Here we learned that each of us was a construct and our souls had been damned to hell for actions that were not our fault. Blackberry's crime was that she had touched a magic item which possessed her and caused her to go on a murderous rampage.
The priest of Torm blessed our party and gave us protection versus undead. This was a big help because at one point we were approached by at least 20 shadows, but they couldn't harm us so they left. We had some minor skirmishes with goblins and finally made it to the graveyard, where we entered the mausoleum that the sage inhabited. She was an undead thing and demanded blood in payment for the information we were seeking. Samsung, the dwarven cleric of Moradin (and Blackberry's best friend), gave her his blood. She told us that the man we were seeking was none other than Fzoul Chembryl, leader of the church of Bane (and a 19th level cleric!).
While we were talking to the sage, a poisonous gas had been slowly seeping into the mausoleum. We all failed our perception checks and so we noticed the gas far too late. Rob had us make fortitude checks to see if we could withstand the poison and the party also failed that check. At this point, I think it would have been safe to say that Rob could have TPK'd the party. Instead, we awoke in a cell far below the ground, wearing nothing but rags and the rest of equipment was gone; except for Samsung, who was missing.
After we woke up we were escorted to see the Inquisitor. He knew that Fzoul had the sword of Lythander and that he had lied when he said it was destroyed & he was going to bring him down. Samsung had been tortured and he wanted us to tell him why we were there. Edrick, the paladin, was appointed to be the group speaker but he was taking too long to tell the story so the Inquisitor was going to hurt Samsung and Blackberry blurted everything out.
We were sent back to the cell to rot but Samsung was able to create water for us several times a day. I attempted to pick the lock but was unsuccessful. It really looked like we were going to die in the cell but after several days we were set free by Stevie, who was actually Olive Rustkettle, a harper bard. She had posed as a servant and was hired to cook for the soldiers of the temple of Bane. She gave them all food poisoning so that we could escape. We found the secret tunnel out of the dungeons but on our way out we met the butler, who told us we were expected.
We were escorted into a dining room and sitting at the head of the table was Fzoul Chembryl, the sword of Lythander was hanging on the wall behind him. He told us that if we killed the Inquisitor and the beholder that he would remove our tattoo and give us the sword. At this point the tower was hit by an explosion, Fzoul disappeared, and the Inquisitor and the beholder, along with several clerics of Bane and a few soliders burst into the room.
Blackberry put on the Gauntlets of Devouring in the hopes that it would dampen all the magic in the area but they actually work as a targeted dispel against magic, not as an anti-magic field. The gauntlets did, however, increase her strength to 20, give her a +2 on all of her saves, & add +10 to her AC. Because of this, Blackberry was able to defeat the Inquisitor in single combat while the rest of the party dealt with the beholder, the other clerics, & the fighters. Unfortunately, Olive was struck by one of the beholder's eyes and she was turned into stone.
We were able to flee Zhentil Keep because the church of Bane is split into several factions and they just happened to choose that moment to start fighting with one another. We grabbed Olive and fled the city with the third tattoo removed and the sword of Lythander. Now we have to figure out where the creator of the 4th tattoo is so that we can kill him.
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