Session 017 - The Deserter

Thaniel leaps into the midst of the Hellknights and asks why they are arresting him.
The conversation soon escalates and the church is filled with the melodies of battle.
While the party fights off the enemies in front of them, they are beset from sniper fire from outside.
When weapons are finally sheathed, altars are toppled, splintered, and covered in the shed blood of friend and foe alike.
Upon the floor lies two dead hellknights and an unconscious Kat and Thaniel.
The knight's leader escaped and the sniper stopped firing soon after.

The group is soon evicted from the temple and spend some time to nurse their wounds before deciding to travel to the barracks and complete the quest to train the guards.
After providing the guards with a practical lesson and receiving their reward, the guard captain offers them another job.
Some thieves have stolen from a councilman and the guards have been unable to capture them so he'd like for the party to find the thieves' lair so the guards can raid it and apprehend them.
After some discussion, the reward is increased to 400 gold pieces and the quest has changed to bringing a thief to the barracks so they can receive a public punishment for their crimes against a councilman.
The party offers to see what they can do but make no promises for completing it.

Upon leaving the barracks they are met by a stream of people eagerly heading towards the castle courtyard.
They join the crowd and find that the courtyard is filled with multiple attractions in the process of being setup.
The highlight of them all is a large stage upon which the party can see Vira practicing for the Mystic Menagerie's performance.
Athe leads them closer to Vira and find `Madame Cressida` at the base of the stage giving instructions to the young singer.

After her practice, Vira brings the group around to the other members of the troupe to help everyone complete their setup.
They learn that Ryn had their coin purse stolen earlier that day and it contains his unique set of tarot cards that he'll need.
He points them towards the northern slums of the city and the party head out to retrieve the deck.

Within the slums, Athe notices some suspicious children that immediately run from her at her approach.
The party gives chase and splits up in an attempt to corner them but soon lose their trail and each other.
After reuniting, Athe reveals the information she was given after bribing some of the residents.
The children they are after call themselves The Ankle Shankers and have taken residence within a mausoleum nearby.

The sun has begun to set when they arrive at the mausoleum and enter to find the children just inside.
They eventually agree to return the coin purse and the tarot deck if the party destroys the undead further within.
They venture deeper and fight the skeletons and zombies they encounter before fighting against a large and imposing hulk of a zombie in the deepest parts of the mausoleum.

After returning to the children and receiving an empty coin purse but a full tarot deck, they make the trek back to the courtyard and return stolen items to Ryn.