I was kind of out of it during this session + could have spent more time prepping. This ended up being more of a breather of a session, which worked OK to set up the next game + advance some new plots. I realize I should figure out a good way to quickly review NPCs / plot threads around a particular adventure location before I run a session there - it would have been helpful to have a sentence or two about everything going on in Ajacciu before we started playing.
Session 9 recap
Roll call:
Clarketti Chianti, fighter 3 (Bravo subclass). Newly psychic after licking a toad in the druids' lair.
Alfredo Schifoso, warlock 3 (pact of the Scandalous Courtier / pact of the tome)
Drago Bellini, rogue 3 (gadgeteer)
Diorio Giuseppe 'Dio' Papparellegrino, monk 3 (way of the open hand)
The PCs started this session in transit back to Ajacciu from the northeastern fort of Bastia, where they had successfully sold the legendary Lance of Victory to the pious + quixotic nobleman Don Geronimo Rodrigo Manuel Lopes de Valmeseda. Don Geronimo has laid claim to the northern half of Corsica on behalf of the kingdom of Tarracon to the west, and he believes that the lance will help him destroy the Brancalonian criminal element on the south of the island, led by Marvin Marciano, once and for all. He's not wrong, since the lance will grant its holder victory in any battle no matter the odds, though the Don doesn't realize that the wielder of the lance dies immediately after that battle.
The party had successfully convinced Don Geronimo to book them passage back to Ajacciu so they could settle their affairs there before battle broke out, and they made good time around the island. They had recently brokered a deal with the druids on behalf of Marvin's mafia which included providing a number of human sacrifices, especially priests. Luckily for the PCs, they have a captured Pope with them who can create as many priests as they need. After some convincing, the party got Pope Tommaso to make Marvin Marciano a priest, with the goal of eventually sacrificing him to the druids and killing off one more of the rival power players on the island. The pope agreed to consecrate Marvin for a 50gp fee (spent on incense, robes, etc).
"No one will remember when a monster dies. Everyone remembers when a priest dies."
- Clarketti
Next, Clarketti found a trustworthy sailor to deliver 1000 gold to his father in the south of Brancalonia, giving a 100gp fee for this task. Drago fucked around on the pier again and narrowly avoided another duel.
With business concluded in town for now, the party set off to perform the task asked by Alfredo's patron, one that they didn't mind accepting - to kill the dickhead wizard Uranio Calcidi, whose tower they had robbed blind while they were in Ghisa. Uranio was sure to want venganza, so it made sense to strike first, when he was least expecting it, and Alfredo's patron had made it known that the wizard would soon be taking the waters at the Bonifacciu bath house on Corsica. Along the half-day's journey from Ajacciu to Bonifacciu, the PCs met a small group of camp followers eager to tag along with such mighty adventurers for a modest fee:
- Berta, an inexperienced prostitute
- Marco, a traveling grocer
- Elio, a swineherd, and his enormous hog Luca
- and Arsenio, a scholar who knows everything about giants. Alfredo trusted him with Zorboni's child in the hopes that the learned man could make the kid into a giant but it didn't seem like anything would work out there.
In Bonifacciu, the party found an inn + cased the neighborhood around the bath house. Alfredo charmed the madame of the 'massage parlor' next door, who revealed that the wizard would be receiving a massage from one of her girls in a private room from 11am-12 noon the next day. Drago used his newfound gadgeteer skills to create a firebomb and a greasebomb, and the party planned to get into the private room next door to Uranio, burst through the wall throwing bombs, and make the whole thing look like an accident. Easier said than done...
