Chapter 3 – Escape From Old Korvosa

Full Session Summaries

• Eighth Session – Escape From Old Korvosa Part I (14 page .pdf)
• Ninth Session – Escape from Old Korvosa Part II (9 page .pdf)
• Tenth Session – Escape from Old Korvosa Part III (15 page .pdf)
  (tenth session again if you’re having trouble downloading…)

Commentary

In Part I, we defy the Queen’s quarantine of Old Korvosa to get to the bottom of some things!  The first thing we get to the bottom of is the taste-meter, as this session has 200% more bestiality jokes than usual.  And then, we liberate Old Korvosa from its most proximate oppressor, a new local crime lord.  We took him seriously until we found out he was really a bard with a pet gimp.

Artist’s conception of the Emperor of Old Korvosa:

Artist’s conception of his gnomish minion:

Then, after dealing with the local decadent aristocracy, we go looking for our buddy (and Annata’s would-be squeeze), Vencarlo.  His fencing school’s been burned down, and his house seems like it’s been abandoned just minutes before we arrived.  And then the ninja bug-men attacked!

Artist’s conception of the Red Mantis assassins:

In the wake of that, we find out that the old seneschal, one of the few people with the legal power to thwart the evil Queen’s plans, may still be alive and in Old Korvosa!  And we also find an outfit of Vencarlo’s that reveals an awesome secret…

Artist’s Conception of Vencarlo all geared up:

Boy, Annata doesn’t know what to make of all this.  But Vencarlo aside, her heart burns with a patriotic fervor, and she intends to free Korvosa no matter what it costs her.  She’s definitely taking a “social justice/liberation theology” turn and we want to turn the Sticky Mermaid into our own local IRA bar.

Things get hot and heavy in Part II.  Annata, Malcolm, and Thorndyke venture into the belly of the beast.  We go to stay at Palace Arkona and decide to do some snooping!  We suck at that, but luckily Lord Arkona seems to be in our corner.

Next, we traverse a weirdo Cube dungeon.  It’s kinda cool, and the decorators knew how to carry a motif, though the proliferation of symbols is more annoying than dangerous.  And finally, we find Vencarlo – or DO we?!?

And then, we find out how three level 8 adventurers fare against CR10 and CR12 opponents – at the same time!

Annata’s ability to do quickened channel energy is pretty much the bomb.  Only by healing everyone in the party 4d6 points a round (and doing half that in damage to our opponents!) did we survive.  And the channeling was even a neat plot point.

Part III is a jumbo session.  It’s actually the end of Escape from Old Korvosa and the beginning of A History of Ashes.  And the hits keep on coming!

First, we find Vencarlo at long last!  Once we escape, he passes on the mantle of Blackjack to one of our heroes.  But that’s not what Annata wants the most…  She tries to provoke him into starting up a romance, to little effect.  In reality, the DM admitted that he wasn’t comfortable role-playing the romance.  Which was a little surprising to me, as our DM is gay.  “Between the two of us,  you’re the one who’s uncomfortable with this?  Damn, I guess I need to be hitting the gym!”

But before we leave the city…  Annata feels obliged to speak out!  Yes, I actually prepared that whole speech (entire text is included in the session summary).  So sue me, I’m a roleplayer.  Educated folks and people with enough of the Old Country in their blood may recognize the bit towards the end that I included as an homage to Irish patriot Michael Collins.

Then we move into A History of Ashes.  I have to say, we were pretty nonplussed by the Byzantine plot laid out before us.  “To find out about the relics in the Queen’s crown, you need Guy#1 to tell you, but to do that you need to perform Heroic Task 1, but to do that you need Guy #2, but to do that you need to perform Heroic Task 2, but for that you need Guy #3, but for that you need to perform Heroic Task 3.”  Michael Kortes, we have our eye on you.  The action setpieces better be spectacular to make up for this lead-us-by-the-nose plot.

Annata is in a weird place right now.  She is starting to see the hand of destiny laid strong upon them.  It had already been impressed upon her that the two men she was fighting alongside were a Korvosan Guard and a Sable Company Marine, which is very symbolic of the founding of Korvosa.  But now with venturing out among the Shoanti, she is starting to wonder if she’s Saint Alika the Martyr in this tale.  As a Korvsan city girl, she has been told since she was young that Shoanti are barbarians, pretty much into arson, rape, and murder in whatever order occurs to them, depending on how much they’re out of their primitive minds on fermented horse urine or whatever.  So mentally she’s hovering between “chosen of Sarenrae” and “martyr complex.”

So now we’re in a weird dungeon with two Brotherhood of Bones weirdos.  Laori was all right, but Annata’s not sure about these two.  They did help kill the latest wave of Red Mantis assassins though.  And did the author really think the tentacle beast was going to be a surprise?  The second we heard “drop down to dark water” we all said “Yep, it’s Helm’s Deep.”

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