Castle Xyntillan Session 14: Machinations of the Malicious Mixer

In the last session, the party returned to Xyntillan, fortified and refreshed. They investigated more of the lower level, facing off against the Gristle Knight which had killed their companions so long ago, and caught glimpses of their newest foe, the hunchback Mandrake Malevol. They discovered Runcius Malevol's realm, a forested demiplane underneath Xyntillan, and had a polite conversation with a ghostly philosopher. Will Mandrake attack again? Why is the party being targeted? All this and more in this week's session of Castle Xyntillan!

The Party

Longo Lightfoot, Halfling Thief, wears a sky-blue headscarf. Played by CaptainSabatini.
Corby the Joyful, Human Cleric of Sucellus, wears a short, conical hat. Played by diregrizzlybear.
Idred the Most Omniscient, Human MU, wears a full-visored greathelm. Played by David Perry.
Boroth Swinney the Joyous, Human Fighter, wears a masked helm depicting a happy human face. Played by Justin Hamilton.
Francois, Light Footman, noticeably dogless. 

Rodolfo, Heavy Footman, running from a warrant in town.

Hubert, Heavy Footman.

Gwynefa, Arbalist.

Herman, Arbalist, escaped convict and former boar.

Emil, Lightbearer, strange obsession with some Malevols.

Karo, Arbalist.

Allan, Arbalist, claims to know a great secret, pursues a Malevol for past crimes.

Bruno, Light Footman, a talented sharpshooter.

LaBeouf, Camp Cook.
Raymond, Mule.

Casualties

None

Loot

Holy cross (magical, not fully identified)

Salamander amulet (not identified)

Flask of acid, 300gp

Miraculous Sundial

Very Large Truffle, 100gp

The Game

• Picking back up in the excavation chamber, the animated objects still working, the party wondered what could be buried there, but didn't take up the pick and shovel themselves.
• A closet off the the east was empty, except for a child's doll against the wall, but they could hear whispering from the outside. Opening and closing it several times, its contents seemed to change, becoming empty and later holding only a chess piece.

Longo: It's the Squirrel Guard!
Idred: Singular, or is that the name of an organization?

Longo: Either.

Boroth: Spike it, we don't want a Chucky situation here.

• A nearby room was filled with junk, rotting wooden furniture riddled with woodworms. In an alcove, a devotional wooden figure of a saint, though disfigured beyond recognition, still held a shining silver cross.

Boroth: I don't trust these worms, they're sinners.

• After much fretting over whether it would be right to take the crucifix, Corby walked across the room and took it, making a mental note to refurbish and reconsecrate this chamber in the future.
• Off a side corridor, the party found steps leading even further down! These led to a dead end and the bas-relief of a cat's head. Brief experimentation yielded no results, but any time a character got close, the hairs on the back of their neck stood on end and they had the feeling something was right behind them.

Longo: This is scary guys, we could charge tickets and people can come get scared!

Boroth: I’m always scared! 

Idred: Weird room, let’s leave.

Who can resist that face?

• Further exploration led them back to another area of the dungeon, right where their map said it would be, the corridor of gargoyles. They went back to the gargoyle which they had heard breathing before, and conducted a brief conversation with it. It made them an offer: destroy the Blind Beast of Xyntillan, and it would tell them a valuable secret. The party weighed up the offer.

Longo: Hey, do you know any of the gargoyles on the roof of the castle?

Gargoyle: Do you assume all gargoyles know each other?

Longo: Yes.

• Another room off the corridor was filled to the brim with sundials. Small, large, wood, metal, stone, simple, ornate, all of which told the time accurately. Further experimentation confirmed that, if left out of sight for a moment, they would shift to accommodate a new light source. The party selected a sundial to take with them for further inspection.
• Shortly afterwards, they encountered a trio of strange skeletons. Inside their ribcages were glass containers filled with swirling gas. Here, the party got a pleasant surprise: when Corby tried to Turn them, he instead Destroyed the skeletons automatically! The cross they had looted improved the level of his turning! In the aftermath, they determined that the gas would explode if damaged too much.
• Hot on the tails of those skeletons were several more, and accompanying them, three Stygous birds! The party had encountered such creatures in an early expedition and barely drove them off then.
• The players holed themselves up in the sundial room as the Stygous sent the skeletons to smoke them out. The door was blown open in short order, and the party blocked off the entrance with oil and fire as they fired crossbows through the doorway, the skeletons falling to bolts and Turnings while the Stygous fell to blades and a Sleep spell. 
• As the last of the murderous creatures fell, the party heard scurrying and swearing around the corner. Hopping over a sleeping Stygous, Corby turned around the corner and saw the hunched figure of Mandrake Malevol. Before he could escape, Corby launched a Hold Person spell. Mandrake failed his save, and toppled to the ground mid-run.
• Catching up, executing the Stygous and assessing the damage, the party interrogated Mandrake.

Longo: Are you a dick?

Mandrake: No! No!

Longo: He's a lying dick.

• They learned that he had been charged to kill them by Serpentina, who was under severe pressure from an enraged Maltricia after the wedding. The modified skeletons, the Gas Walkers, were his creation. The party had little interest in keeping him around, and wanted to move forward with Medard's quest. Mandrake's blood spilled on the floor of the dungeon.
• This was, in fact, the first time in the campaign that the party had killed a sapient living being. They briefly considered using their potion of resurrection to bring him back and get more use of out him, but banished the thought.

Idred: That's like a get-out-of-murder-free card.

• On Mandrake's person were a valuable vial of acid, a salamander amulet, and a venomously written letter, signed by Serpentina ordering the party's death. Enfolded within was a key, which would allow entry to Serpentina's chambers in the Lake Tower.
• With their pursuer dead, the party debated what to do next. One option floated was to kill and loot Tristano, the four-armed skeleton they found in their first expedition, whom their new hireling has a bone to pick with.

Longo: But Tristano has four arms!

Idred: Everyone has forearms, what are you taking about?

• They chose to finish their map of the nearby area, and check out the room filled with pigs they had avoided in the last expedition. They found a giant pigsty, with vegetation and fungi growing in the ground and walls, being eaten by nearly a dozen gigantic pigs. The pigs took note of the party and nudged them for food, but allowed them entry.
• Inside, sitting atop a pile of coins and miscellaneous treasure, was a pig bedecked in finery and wearing a laurel crown.

Corby: Talking to animals is a spell anyone can at least try!

• This pig spoke to the party, and introduced itself a Louis, King of Swine, master of all he surveyed. The party engaged with him as politely as they were able, and made an exchange of gifts; the party received a Very Large Truffle for their trouble.
• The session ended there, with the party planning to explore an adjacent room which Louis seemed dismissive of, but plans otherwise in the air. They still have plenty of resources, and without Mandrake dogging their step, they'll be able to move about more freely. What will they come across next? Find out in next week's session of Castle Xyntillan!

Takeaways

The party was ambushed by the Stygous and Mandrake's exploding skeletons from both ends of a corridor. Instead of trying to fight their way out, they willingly locked themselves in and used the chokepoint for defense. In retrospect, I see a few ways I could have run that encounter differently. Another learning experience.

With the wedding arc concluded, the party's current motivations seem mostly to be 'get loot' and 'adventure because this is game night.' Not bad motivations, but by having Mandrake ambush them, giving them a breadcrumb trail to follow to Serpentina, and possibly to Maltricia from there, I give a minor push and offer a pull that would allow the party to chase and take down the villains of the wedding arc, this time in a more permanent and enriching fashion.

That, plus another subplot hook I whipped up during my absence, which will materialize once the party returns to town and which will recontextualize their expeditions going forward. No spoilers yet!

Next Chapter: Where there's a Will, There's a Way