[Challenge of the Frog Idol] Session #7: Brotherhood of the Writhing Arm Part II

The latest venture has the characters lose a valuable member from their group, they nevertheless wait for the rest of the party to appear, while hiding the bodies inside some barrels at the backyard, so that they can all descend into the mysterious brotherhood's secret hideout. The problem is, the entrance to the hideout is nowhere to be seen. And none of the cultists seem to be around. Patience is a virtue, however, and while having decided to wait at the mead hall's common room, the characters notice a red-haired man limping to one of the back doors. Slowly following him, they end up in the same corridor that leads to the backyard. At that point, Caledon gets a feeling that a concealed door should be around and with a little searching, the group manages to gain access to a secret chamber, where red robes and black hood hang on the walls, for the initiated. The group decides to don the cultist robes and, disguised, start to infiltrate the hideout.

After walking the old, dimly lit corridors, the characters come upon an unholy meeting, where a score of hooded cultists listen to their leader's speech, inside the remains of an ancient shrine. While listening to the leader's rambling, the group witnesses in shock as one of the cultists, so-called "traitor", is stabbed multiple times and bleeds to death. Soon after, the ecstatic mass is over and everyone silently leaves the murderous scene. Investigating further, the characters discover another secret door, that leads away from the ancient shrine. On their way, they happen upon a cell, where a female elf is kept prisoner. After releasing her and taking her with them (the elf lady barely walking, with all the tortured she had suffered), they move forward to a door. Beyond the door, the group finds a strange scene: the body of an old man, lying on a pool of its own blood, and a crazed, middle-aged man pointing a bloodied sword against a younger man; they all bear the same colours and features. After a brief exchange of words, the crazed man rushes against the characters and mortally wounds Klag and Raven, before the rest beat him with might and magic. The young man thanks them profusely and explains the whole situation.

It seems the wealthy family of Pheray was behind the machinations of the Brotherhood of the Writhing Arm, a secret cult devoted to the ancient god Fruum, which also instigated all the sabotaging and attacking at the Red Lanterns. According to Wilfa, the only surviving member of the family who was rescued by the characters, the brotherhood's plans were two-fold: to crush the Red Lanterns who influenced the City Commander, a privilege they used to enjoy, and to explore the Black Mire in order to find Fruum's resting place and awaken him. As both father and older brother have met their demise, it befalls to the young brother to lead the family and the secret cult, who offers central roles in the cult's development and actions to the characters. Eager to have a wealthy and well-connected patron, the party agrees to Wilfa's offers.

Characters involved
Rirna, magic-user 1
Caledon, elf 1
Li, halfling 1
Raven, cleric 1 [KIA]

Klag, hobgoblin (retainer) [KIA]
Etaine, elf 1 (retainer)

This session concluded the module The Veiled Society. I have to say that, despite some issues with the adventure's weak plots and complex events that I'd like to discuss in another post (like why does the cult decide to assassinate the characters, when they worked for them the previous night), it was a blast for the players, as they felt most of the time they were driving the story. It was fun to see the party switching factions, from being employed by the Red Lanterns to having their own investigation to joining the Brotherhood, after breaking into their hideout. Nobody managed to gain a level, but they were very close, and would need a small adventure to go past level 1.