Chapter 1 - Session 3

Convergence at the Crow's Nest and the Cellar's Secret

The video can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhOmWIVRycE

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Events and Actions

The session began with the player characters (PCs) scattered through The Crow's Nest tavern, each unable to see or interact with the others despite being in the same room. This shifted once those who donned their mysterious Medallions began to perceive a shared reality, allowing them to finally meet and compare notes.

Much of the early conversation centered on their individual, yet eerily similar, experiences in the tavern's cellar: each had found a Medallion on the same skeleton in a hidden alcove and fought off rats there. They discovered the Medallions were invisible to anyone not wearing one, and difficult to remove — attempts typically left the wearer distracted and unable to follow through. Wearing a Medallion, it seemed, was the key to seeing and being seen by the others.

Several PCs, including Knick Nab, Werner De Rendal, and Mani, reported to Burlyman the innkeeper about dealing with the rats in the cellar and patching the hole they seemed to be coming from. Each gave a slightly different account of events, adding to the general confusion, and matters were not helped by Riu's pet squid, Squidly III, which he had carried up from the cellar in its jar: it kept vanishing from and reappearing on the bar without anyone admitting to moving it, until Riu himself was identified as the culprit. Werner also collected two flasks of the glowing green water from the cellar.

Cosimo, noting the bricked-up archway mentioned in previous cellar explorations, struck a deal with Burlyman: he would find out what lay beyond it in exchange for splitting whatever profit was found there. After acquiring a chisel, hammer, and small trowel from a passing tinker with coin Burlyman provided, he returned to the tavern with the tools.

The group, now able to see and coordinate with each other, decided to investigate the archway together. Before breaking through, they tested the strange glowing water seeping from the wall by dipping a torch into it — it did not ignite, ruling out at least one danger. Cosimo then skillfully dismantled the blockage, revealing a previously unknown chamber. Inside, they were confronted by a number of rats, including one exceptionally large specimen.

A fierce battle ensued. Knick Nab fought with an improvised giant wooden spoon grabbed from the kitchen, and Werner drew one of the room's iron pokers before setting it aside for lack of skill with it. Noddy grabbed a cleaver but fumbled badly, winding himself and sidelining him from the fight; he and Knick Nab later broke off together to fetch flammable alcohol as a possible weapon against the large rat, though the fight was over before they returned. Mani was gravely wounded when the large rat lunged for his throat — its tail catching in his belt at the last instant turned what should have been a fatal bite into a glancing one — and he spent one of his Coins of Fate to mitigate the worst of the damage. The party worked together, with Werner eventually grappling the large rat, allowing Cosimo to deliver the killing blow. The remaining smaller rats then fled. After the combat, Werner successfully tended to Mani's significant injuries.

In a parallel series of events, Knick Nab interacted with Randolph the Chronicler, who was seated in the tavern's common room recording the strange occurrences in a private journal. Knick Nab shared details about the Medallion and the body, which Randolph noted with interest, mentioning that another young visitor had come to him with similar questions about an hour earlier. Asked whether he knew anything of serpents or fantastical creatures, Randolph admitted it wasn't his specialty but mentioned a friend, Manfred, an archivist who studied such matters. Later, Knick Nab attempted to ascend the stairs to the tavern's upper floor, fighting an unseen magical resistance like wading through honey across several exhausting attempts before conceding. The innkeeper, watching from below, remarked that the same thing happens to him. The mysterious lady on the landing politely but firmly turned Knick Nab back, telling him entry upstairs was by invitation only from "the mistress," and promising to relay his request once she awoke.

The session concluded with the party having secured the hidden chamber and dealt with the immediate rat threat, but with many questions remaining about The Medallions, the hidden chamber's purpose, and the strange events at The Crow's Nest.

NPCs & Creatures

  • Burlyman: The innkeeper of The Crow's Nest. Appeared confused by the PCs' overlapping accounts, and admitted that the stairway's resistance to the upper floor happens to him too.
  • Burlyman's wife: The innkeeper's wife, worked in the kitchen. Also seemed perplexed by events.
  • Randolph the Chronicler: A Chronicler who has taken up residence at The Crow's Nest, encountered by Knick Nab recording the strange events in a private journal.
  • Manfred: A friend of Randolph's, mentioned but not met — an archivist who specializes in serpents and fantastical creatures.
  • Mysterious Lady: An elegantly dressed woman on the upper landing of The Crow's Nest who prevented Knick Nab from going upstairs.
  • Old Lady Tinker: A woman with a cart from whom Cosimo purchased his tools.
  • Rats: Several encountered in the cellar and the hidden chamber, including a very large rat.
  • Pocket: Noddy's pet seagull, which made a brief appearance.
  • Squidly III: Riu's pet squid, kept in a jar and carried up from the cellar. Became a running source of confusion in the tavern after it repeatedly went missing and reappeared.

Locations

  • The Crow's Nest: The primary location, a tavern in The Capitol. Events took place in the common room, the cellar, and a newly discovered hidden chamber connected to the cellar.
  • The road between Low Town and High Town: Where Cosimo, on his way to buy tools, instead encountered an old woman selling tools from a cart.

Conflicts

  • PCs vs. Rats: The group fought several rats in the hidden chamber, several using improvised weapons — Knick Nab wielded a giant wooden spoon grabbed from the kitchen.
    • Mani was severely injured when the large rat lunged for his throat (multiple hits, bleeding, stunned), only narrowly deflected when its tail snagged in his belt; he used a Coin of Fate to reduce the severity. Werner later stopped his bleeding.
    • Cosimo killed one small rat and the large rat, the latter after Werner grappled and knocked it down.
    • Werner killed one small rat.
  • Knick Nab vs. Upstairs Resistance: Knick Nab's repeated attempts to force his way up the stairs to the upper floor of The Crow's Nest were met with a thick, honey-like magical resistance and verbal denial by the Mysterious Lady, leaving him exhausted before he conceded.

Learnings and Discussions

  • The Medallions:
    • They are magical items found on a skeleton in the cellar.
    • Multiple PCs found seemingly identical Medallions on the same corpse, despite searching at different "times" or in different perceived realities.
    • Wearing a Medallion appears to allow PCs to see and interact with others who are also wearing one.
    • The Medallions are invisible to those not wearing one (e.g., Randolph, Burlyman).
    • They are difficult to remove; attempts often result in the wearer becoming distracted and failing to take it off.
    • The Medallions have slightly different markings (a line at different positions, like on a clock face).
  • Coins of Fate: These are player-held meta-currency that can influence in-game events, as demonstrated when Mani used one to lessen a severe injury.
  • The Crow's Nest Cellar: Contains a hidden chamber behind a bricked-up archway. This chamber was the source of the rats. Writings in "Divinity" script were noted on the inside of the bricked wall. The strange glowing water seeping through the wall was tested with a torch and found not to be flammable.
  • Strange Occurrences: The PCs experienced fragmented realities or timelines, with individuals or small groups initially isolated before converging. The exact nature of this phenomenon remains unknown.
  • Upstairs of The Crow's Nest: Access is restricted and requires an invitation from "the mistress." Even Burlyman claimed the same resistance happens to him.
  • Randolph the Chronicler: Is aware of and documenting the unusual events, and has a friend, Manfred, who may know more about strange creatures.

Items Gained

  • Werner De Rendal:
    • Two flasks of glowing green water (from the cellar).
    • (Possesses a non-throwable dagger, distinct from the kitchen knives).
  • Cosimo: A chisel, hammer, and small trowel (purchased from the Old Lady Tinker for 23 silver).
  • All PCs possess a Medallion (acquired from the skeleton in the cellar, central to the session's events).
  • All Players possess 10 Coins of Fate (meta-currency).

Items Lost

  • Mani: One Coin of Fate (spent to mitigate injury).
  • Knick Nab: One kitchen knife (thrown in combat and lost).