User blog:MMetzner/Session 12 - Landon's Last Stand


 * The Guardians gathered outside of the Mutineer tavern as the first round of the Pirate's Craving tournament got into its swing, with the pirate Grace having just beaten her fellow pirate Jean-Jacques . As they got out of sight of the tavern briefly to make plans, the tabaxi mapseller Lost Canvas rounded the corner, eyeing Ronan's map case before entering the Mutineer.
 * As Maiya, Ronan and Farrus re-entered the Mutineer, they saw Lost Canvas sitting down at the table where the tournament was taking place, opposite a male halfling in an expensive looking, but not well looked after grey suit. Maiya lurked by the wall near a stranger, a human male who looked to be in his late 40's, smoking a large pipe and coughing violenty.
 * Ronan sat on a a bench close to the action, still disguised as an elderly woman with an interest in Pirate's Craving. Catching glimpses of the participants' hands, she saw Lost Canvas holding cards mainly consisting of beasts, and caught sight of an elephant in particular. Glancing at Lost Canvas' opponents vanguard she could see aquatic creatures, including a reef shark. The tabaxi made short work of the halfling, beating him quickly without saying a word.
 * Meanwhile, Kyanna and Gauner walked around Trader's Square, taking in the comings and goings of people.
 * Back at the Mutineer, Bryndell and Narry  - the human male sat next to Maiya, were called to the table. Ronan noted that Bryndell favoured a mage-heavy vanguard, using wizards, and Narry had themed his cards to were-beasts - specifically a werewolf, a wereboar and a weretiger. The mocking Bryndell defeated Narry easily, arrogantly putting his cards back in his pocket and walking back to his table.
 * The final match of the first round took place directly afterwards, with Last Orders facing a dwarven woman named Gwyn . A trader, Gwyn's pockets and pouches appear to be filled with trinkets and sweets. Gwyn defeats the grizzled tabaxi, who doesn't seem too concerned about his loss.
 * In Trader's Square, Gauner decided to go and speak to the guards posted at the gate of the Governor's Mansion. After repeatedly annoying one particular guard, Gauner cleverly managed to get him to inadvertently give up the shift patterns of the mansion guards.
 * Before the semi finals of the tournament began at the Mutineer, with Bryndell, Grace, Lost Canvas and Gwyn competing, Maiya took the opportunity to investigate the surrounding area, noticing how quiet it seemed before heading back inside.
 * Kyanna expressed having second thoughts about the plan to break into Landons mansion again, prompting a long debate about alternatives but ultimately deciding it was still the right thing to do.
 * Grace and Lost Canvas sat down to play their semi-final, with Ronan noticing a look of worry on Lost Canvas' face as he saw Grace's vanguard. Grace played aggressively and within 5 minutes had defeated the Tabaxi mapseller, who took his defeat graciously.
 * Bryndell and Gwyn sat down to play the other semi-final, with Brynden mocking Gwyn throughout. After beating her convincingly he is struck in the head with a peanut, thrown by Ronan, who tells Bryndell her name is Dandelion Brandybuck.
 * The Watcher calls the finalists to the table, with Grace facing against Bryndell. Ronan got a glimpse of a dragon in Grace's deck, and upon seeing the cards himself, Bryndell accused Grace of having stolen them. Grace won the contest fairly easily, with Bryndell storming off after declaring that he would not be seen to play with thieves. Finally the Wtahcer congratulated Grace, presented her with a seal with which to present at the gate of the Governors Mansion at 7pm sharp for entry to play against Landon.
 * Before leaving the tavern, Gauner ran up to Grace, asking how she managed to beat Bryndell , and that he wanted to learn to be as good at Pirate's Craving as she was. Grace agreed to show the Tiefling boy the basics, and sat back down at the table.  She showed Gauner some of her best cards, archmages, stone golems and a variety of spells and effects, explaining how they are used in the game. Gauner asked Grace about her ship, to which she declared that she was the captain of The Flying Fox.
 * Ronan re-entered The Mutineer . Still in her old lady disguise she approahced the bar close to Grace and ordered an ale. Taking her drink she sat at the table opposite Grace, who was eating a meal. Dropping her voice low she reverted to a different accent, telling Grace it wasn't safe to talk there,but that she had a proposition.When Grace informed her that she would stay where her meal was, Ronan was forced to lay her metaphorical cards on the table. She suggested to Grace that the match against Landon would be fixed, and that she would not be able to win, even with a deck as good as hers. Grace replied that she was aware, and that winning the match against Landon wasn't the only plan she had. Ronan tried to dig deeper but Grace was hesitant to offer more information.
 * Ronan convinced Grace that she and her companions were planning on breaking into Landon's Mansion to steal a rare ruby elephant, and realising that their plans did not compromise her own, became more open to a partnership.
 * Ronan got Grace's attention even more when she mentioned the Amber Howl, her lost ship, of which Grace was familiar. The two began to hash out a plan to get everyone into the mansion, with Ronan disguising herself as Grace's sister and supporter. The pair agreed to meet outside of the mansion at 6:45pm.
 * Gauner decided to try and seek out the dwarven trader Gwyn, who he knew had a shop somewhere in the poorest district on Sailor's Wyk. He came across a beggar woman outside a small house. When the woman pointed out Gwyns shop but told Gauner he was more likely to find Gwyn in Trader's Square during the celebrations, Gauner gave the woman some coin. Gauner tracked down Gwyn, asking her about Pirate's Craving cards. Not having the gold on him to buy what Gwyn had on her, she invited him to come ot her shop tomorrow to see some chaper options. Gauner asked the merchant why people were celebrating today, to which Gwyn did not really have an answer, speculating that perhaps Landon Mutt had received some good news.

The Mansion

 * The group began preparing for their infiltration of Landons Mansion. Ronan transformed Algie into a mouse and disguised herself to fit the role of Graces sister. Kyanna transformed herself into a mouse aswell, while Maiya, Gauner and Farrus were made invisible by Kyanna.
 * As the group approached the mansion at 6:45, she saw Grace being escorted towards the mansion by a Sailor's Wyk guard. Nodding at Ronan, Grace asked if she was ready. Wary of the guard, telepathically Ronan checked with Grace that everything was going to plan, Grace coughed to indicate it was.
 * The group walked to the first set of guards at the gate, showing them her seal to indicate her invitation. The guards at the gate, and in turn the guards on the main door nodded to indicate their arrival.
 * As the group entered the main hallway, they saw two guards ahead of them. Farrus, Gauner and Maiya snuck up to outside of the dining room, hearing voices inside. The first voice, which the pair recognised as Landon Mutt, sounded jubilant, declaring that someone was "exactly as they were, and after a year" and that his father's 'pet' was finally repaying his part of the bargain. He also mentioned that "Greyship's men would be dealing with the Hogstone group soon enough" and that he would be "bringing his full army this time, and leading it himself", expecting 'reinforcements' from the north. Maiya, upon hearing this recoiled at what was clearly important information they were not supposed to be hearing, but remained silent.
 * Grace, Ronan and Grace's guard reached the top of the stairs and knocked, and were invited to enter by Landon. Standing next to Landon was a large half-orc holding an incredibly sharp-looking axe. Ronan introduced herself to Landon as 'Virtue'
 * Landon remarked that he was hoping to play against Lost Canvas in the final, mainly because he wanted to goad him about a Vasco Magelos map he had recently sold for next to nothing when it was near priceless. Ronan struggled to keep her face calm as she realised it was likely they were talking about the map she had purchased from the Tabaxi and had twice almost been stolen by pickpockets. This was confirmed when Landon mentioned that 'that disgusting gnome' Yostix probably had his 'little thieves' out picking pockets for it. He also mentioned that other pirates, including the son of Magelos' first mate Francisco Rigo were in the city looking for it. Landon also mentioned being a fan of Magelos, and that he used to own a rare copy of the first volume of the Voyages of Magelos, until it was recently stolen from his library by the Guardians of Hogstone.
 * For the first time in their brief relationship, Ronan noticed a flicker of worry on Grace's face at the mention of the book being stolen.
 * Landon retrieved his deck from a locked cabinet behind him, claiming that all his cards were official, and crafted only a week ago by the Gaming Guild on Timberhill.
 * Meanwhile, the guard that entered with Grace stealthily snuck from the hallway into Landons library, followed by the still invisible Maiya and Gauner. The guard rifled through the bookshelves, becoming increasingly frustrated. Deciding to try and get ahead of the guard in what he was searching for, Maiya and Gauner climbed the stairs to the first floor of the mansion.
 * Gauner successfully picked the lock of the door at the top of the stairs that led into Landon's study area, peering inside...
 * Meanwhile, the final of the Pirates Craving tournament began, as Landon brought out a vanguard consisting of Valon Mutt, Pyron Mutt and Landon Mutt, arrogantly proclaiming that 'when you have friends in the Gaming Guild, anything is possible'.
 * Suddenly everyone in the dining room and hallway heard the sounds of a sword swinging and a scream, coming from the library. A guard dragged in a lifeless guard, pulling off his helmet to reveal Grace's accomplice to be Jean-Jacques.

Landon's Last Stand

 * Landon ordered his guards to search the mansion, realising that Grace  and Jean-Jacques must have been there searching for the book recently stolen by Gauner.
 * Meanwhile Gauner silently crept into Landon's trophy room, spotting what he assumed to be the Scholar Statue, one of the Sekken Steiner , atop a plinth next to the grating where the toxic gas that knocked them unconcious last time emitted from.
 * In the dining room, Farrus, with an arrow knocked since the scream was heard, fired a poisoned arrow directly at Landon, catching him in the shoulder. Landon immediately dived underneath the large wooden table, cowering from the fight.
 * Ronan lifted her weapon, attempting to fire an Eldritch Blast but misfiring badly. Suddenly two small red imps materialised around her, flapping wings. One with a cloth cap and one with a large cigar. The one with the cloth cap, Lugin, seemed surprised but happy to see Ronan, asking who her 'fancy new friends' were and wondering if she was trying to put together a new crew. Ronan, referring to them as 'the boys' told them that this wasn't the time, but if they were around, to join the fight and attack Trukkum. The other Imp, Tuegin , said that he hadn't had a good fight for ages, and agreed to help Ronan.
 * A wave of Sailor's Wyk guards, having heard the commotion, stormed up the stairs.
 * Upstairs, Maiya took the quick decision to try and grab the Scholar Statue and get out of the room, wary of the traps that had befallen them the last time they were in that room. Taking a deep breath she unfurled her wings, flew across the room, grabbed the statue and got back to the hallway.
 * Back in the dining room, Trukkum began swinging his axe like a madman, a wild slash knocked Grace  to the ground unconcious, and another took Farrus on the arm. Ronan, herself under attack too, managed to reach out, casting Spare the Dying to stabilise Grace.
 * Farrus climbed atop the table where Landon was hiding, imploring the Sailor's Wyk guards to look at their leader, cowering under a table while his men fought and died for him, and asking the men to fight alongside them. Although they weren't convinced to abandon their posts, the guards, looking at Landon and each other, lost precious morale seeing Landon hiding.
 * One of the guards took aim at Ronan, knocking her unconcious. As she fell to the floor, he final thought was embarrasment for having been defeated in front of Lugin and Tuegin.
 * After Kyanna had successfully healed the downed Ronan, Farrus drew his trusty bow again, firing an arrow directly through Trukkum's  eye and killing him instantly.
 * With Trukkum dead and Landon cowering, the guards were losing confidence quickly, Maiya dispatched another of them with a lethal swing of her greatsword. Ronan  fired an Eldritch Blast at Landon Mutt's leg, crippling him. Landon, seeing his guards fall around him, crawled towards the door with his lifeless legs trailing behind him.
 * Farrus fired two more deadly bolts at one of the remaining guards, killing him, as Maiya swung her sword across the chest of another, leaving only one guard left alive, although not for long. Out of nowhere, Gauner snuck up behind the guard, slicing his throat and whispering in his ear "Don't touch my friends".
 * With all his guards dead, Landon found himself pinned against a wall by Maiya's greatsword, as Kyanna cast Cure Wounds on Grace.
 * As Kyanna began searching the bodies within the room, Ronan collected Landon's collection of Pirates Craving cards. They turned their attention to finding the prize money for the tournament. Searching a set of drawers, Ronan came across 7 bags of gold, which she estimated contained around 500 gold each. As promised, Ronan gave the gold to Grace, who immediately gave one bag back, and told her sincerely that she hoped Ronan found the ruby elephant. Kyanna made Grace invisible so that she could escape unseen while carrying the body of her fallen friend Jean-Jacques.
 * The group continued looting the mansion, taking gold from Trukkums body and the rings from Landons fingers. Kyanna raided Landons collection of fine alcohol. Gauner checked Landon's bedroom unearthing a gold ring with a sapphire, as well as a portrait of a man with mutt-like features who looked slightly younger than Landon. Gauner remembered seeing the same portrait in Thirdson Mutt's quarters back on Hogstone.
 * In the dining room, Maiya threatened Landon Mutt, promising him days of torture and demanding to know everything. Landon coughed, a small smile crossing his lips as he said "You're wrong, you think you've won, but you haven't won. Mordakath will kill you all".  To Maiya's outrage, Landon Mutt, fifth son of King Valon, expired on the floor of his mansion.