Downtime 07 ❖ June 7, 2020
Caenn spends several late nights in study. Careful examination of the runes on the Platinum Nails suggests that they have some magic that might enhance hand-eye coordination and steadiness, useful to a thief, surgeon, tailor, watchmaker or jeweler. They would, however, need to be inserted in place of the user's own nails - an unpleasant prospect.
The Heart of Haldicar is more mysterious - its magic allows it to connect to and influence the heartbeat of the one carrying it, and potentially to more than one person, as it did in the room where it was kept. It is a holy item, consecrated to the strange gods of Zyan. It has no clear immediate use but Szadu was clearly able to tap into its power to great effect. It is worth around 4000 gold pieces. Further research is possible.
The book Miracles Wrought in Flesh by Hyganges contains many lovingly wrought illustrations of bizarrely mutated human beings. It is a religious and not a scientific text; the Fleischguild regard these transformations as holy gifts of Malprion, not monstrous aberrations. Some of the transformations are recorded as having occurred due to exposure to substances from the world of Rastingdrung or Phantasmoria, supporting the thesis of Mosekes in The Secret Changes.
Velimus offers to purchase the book for the library's collection for 250gp, and shows Caenn a volume entitled Voyages Among the Shattered Isles, a sailor's account of his voyages among the islands to the north. Amid the tall tales of islands of haunted tombs, isles that fill one with yearning or wisdom, wish-granting mountains, pirates, talking animals, cannibals, and other such things, the author mentions the Isle of the Dismemberer, a place haunted by a terrible faceless flesh golem who attacks and tears apart travelers and castaways. Notably the golem is described as being formed of one piece, entirely without stitches or scars.
All of this research takes its toll. Caenn suffers 1d6 damage at the beginning of the next session due to overwork.
Garviel finds Daronalis the falconer, a halfling who used to train birds in Elmwood before coming to Rastingdrung to seek his fortune and perhaps glimpse the sunken city of absolute purity tales tell lies beneath the surface of Wooling Lake. He's eager to accept work running Garviel's falconers, and sets about obtaining some simple premises on the outskirts of the city along with one or two birds.
| Daronalis the Falconer: Tier 2 | |
|---|---|
| A falconer training birds and their masters on the outskirts of Rastingdrung. | |
| Conveys the following abilities: | |
| - Each downtime roll to obtain a pet falcon if you don't currently have one. | |
| - Each downtime roll to obtain 20 rations worth of game. | |
| - If you don't use either of the other abilities, roll to obtain 50 gold. |
Aeris expands the Bar Saturn. Furthermore Aeris spends some time with Saturn and the shades. The flying creature is inscrutable. It doesn't seem to eat, but listens intently to conversation, and reacts to certain statements with what might be indignance or contentment. The shades are confused, fragmentary beings, hazy on the details of their lives before they reached the altars of the Fleischguild. They know of the purple light of the Necromantic Moon, and yearn to step through the brass doors of Ushanpoor once their remains are laid to rest.
| Bar Saturn: Tier 5 | |
|---|---|
| A bar on the far side of Ultan's Door. | |
| Conveys the following abilities: | |
| - The owner no longer has to pay for passage through Ultan's Door. | |
| - Every downtime, a successful test provides 50gp in takings. | |
| - On each visit, at least 24 hours apart, may make a Holding test to learn of useful rumours. | |
| - Hirelings can be obtained at 20% off on a successful test. | |
| - Includes 3 inn rooms above the domed chamber, available to the PCs when they wish to stay in Zyan overnight. |
As a result of defeating Szadu while wearing a splendid suit of leather, Aeris now has:
| Magical Reinforced Leather of the Heart | |
|---|---|
| Love and blood taste so sweet. | |
| AC DEX+5, +7 when defending loved ones. | |
| Heal 1hp for each foe defeated in melee with an edged or piercing weapon. |
At this point I'm increasingly aware that we're getting to the end of the published adventures for Ultan's Door. The mention of the Isle of the Dismemberer is an attempt to lure the players toward some material that I don't have to write from scratch! The creepy books and artifacts give me some good hooks for this.
I liked the duality of the armour being both vampiric and rewarding self-sacrifice. The desire to work in a pop song lyric quote may be a holdover from my White Wolf days.