Grim North Session 1: Into the Temple of the Toad Oracle

Rufus Rose, F1 

Pandora Set, T1 

Dögrenn, R1 

In Nox Aeterna, city of Eternal Night, it was dark and smoky in the cans only bar at the Secret Shack of Mercenaries, Sellspears and Blades for Hire. Three ne’er do wells perused the board marked “Jobs.” It had three handwritten notes pinned to it: 

Escort Sion Malafice to the Temple of the Toad Oracle, beneath the Stilt District: 450sp 

Recover foreign family heirloom from notorious con man Edmund Eldermeans: 400sp 

Evict squatters from the formerly abandoned Von Keinlen mansion: 425sp 

Deciding that con men were notoriously difficult to pin down and that they were dangerously close to being squatters themselves, they decided to peruse the escort job. Outside, in the Spirals, it was snowing moderately as the PCs passed the abandoned church of Garuul and observed the disused fairground where the lights of the Wheel of Wyrd still turned, unattended for over a hundred years. They crossed the river via the Pauper’s Bridge and entered the gentrified district of Rivershore. Beset by ironic beards and espadrilles they forged onward until they were accosted by a smartly dressed urchin seeking charitable donations for the blind, deaf, mute, plague ridden orphans of the parish. Dögrenn’s charitable nature got the better of him and he donated a silver piece. 

They crossed into the Stilt District. The ancient residents of this area feared their terrible, cthonic gods so much they built their houses on stilts to be as far away from them as possible. In the Broken Hare tavern, they sampled the three stouts on offer (Grimniss, Night Porter, Ticket Stout) and met with Sion Malafice. Accompanied by two thugs the golden robed, black masked Malafice explained that they wished to consult the Toad Oracle but it’s temple was located in a part of the undercity that was rife with cannibal mole men and voracious white alligators. 

Just then thugs from the Lightfinger ACs burst into the tavern demanding the money that Malafice owed them. He responded by directing the PCs to deal with this for him, after assuring them that he was good for their fee (it’s not that he couldn’t afford to pay the thieves back, it as the rate of interest he was disputing) Dora erupted from the shadows and fatally backstabbed the lead thug, unfortunately she then caught a plank of wood with several nails in it to the face and was slain. Battle ensued. Dögrenn was temporarily blinded by his own blood but the thugs were defeated, the last one being tripped to the ground by the newly appeared Calypso. 

As they crossed the Stilt District, Rufus discovered a sack cloth doll that represents a little girl; however the eyes had been torn out and ragged stuffing protruded from the holes. Heading down into the drainage tunnels they found the spoor of white alligators but there was no sign of the actual beasts. Supposedly they were the de rigeur pet of the Patrician class some years ago but we’re then discarded into the Undercity once they were no longer sufficiently fashionable. 

They arrived at the entrance the the Temple of the Toad Oracle without any major incident. Steps lead down to a platform facing a huge pool, a hundred feet across, sludgy with ice and swarming with tadpoles the size of a human thumb. A significant amount of planning then ensued taking us to the end of the evening’s session.