Through the Mists

Session 21: Bait in the Dark

At a glance

Summary

The party opened its meeting with Captain Snowmane by asking for passage between domains. She was reluctant until they told her that Rivalis had been partly swallowed by the Mists and overrun by undead. The news struck a deep nerve: she cast a spell that made the River Dancer’s boards surge into vines and living wood. Rage used bardic charm and persuasion to calm her, and Snowmane somberly agreed to take the company to Barovia. She said she was trying to leave a violent past behind and bring joy instead.

Captain Snowmane stands amid vines and living timber as the River Dancer awakens around her, while Rage, Ignatius, and Carver watch.

The River Dancer answered Snowmane’s grief in vines and living wood. View image record.

Rage and Snowmane later shared a private romantic encounter in her cabin.

Captain Snowmane and Rage sit together in the River Dancer's softly lit cabin, their hands joined.

A quiet moment in Snowmane’s cabin marked their new connection. View image record.

While Rage spoke with the captain, Carver and Ignatius met two members of her crew: Renier, a longtime shipmate, and Armond Duvalle, the human foreman with an intricate coat and thin mustache. With several days before departure, the party turned back to Martira Bay’s killings. A local man named Gilos said the guards were not solving them. Rage also stripped Black Lily’s manor of valuables and sold the goods for 1,200 gp.

Carver could not find Siv at first, but Rage located him watching from a dockside rooftop. Siv had discovered a way through the drainage system to reach the spaces beneath the Cosmopolis Club. The group deferred that lead, choosing instead to hunt the leg-taking killer. They planned to use Rage’s conspicuous legs as bait.

Their first attempt attracted a curfew patrol. Ignatius used entangle and Carver improvised a magically enhanced net, allowing the group to escape. They regrouped, tried a quieter approach, and reached the alley outside the Rat House, where they had previously seen rats entering in a line.

Three sloshing, puddle-like creatures ambushed them there. Bones, fingers, and part of a human face floated within each; the party identified them as Boneless. More emerged from the Rat House as chanting sounded within. Then a swarm of rats poured from the tunnel and merged into a huge demonic-looking rat beast.

Rage, Ignatius, and Carver fight three Boneless in a wet alley as rats merge into a huge creature behind them.

The Rat House gave up three Boneless and a rising wave of rats. View image record.

The party destroyed the Boneless and brought down the rat-swarm creature, but not before it bit Rage and left him with an unidentified infection. Guard feet were already clattering toward the scene. The group scattered and climbed to the rooftops to hide.

Rage, Ignatius, and Carver crouch on rain-slick Martira Bay rooftops while guards search the alley below.

The party watched the guard search from the rooftops above. View image record.

Key events

  1. Snowmane agreed to carry the party toward Barovia after Rage calmed her reaction to the undead in Rivalis.
  2. The party met River Dancer crew members Renier and Armond Duvalle.
  3. Siv found a drainage route beneath the Cosmopolis Club.
  4. The party evaded a curfew patrol, then investigated the Rat House as bait for the leg-taking killer.
  5. Three Boneless and a merged rat-swarm creature attacked; the party destroyed them.
  6. Rage suffered an unidentified infection from the rat creature’s bite and the party escaped to the rooftops.

Decisions and consequences

  • The party accepted Snowmane’s passage. The River Dancer will soon set out for Barovia, though the captain’s reaction to undead remains unexplained.
  • The party deferred Siv’s drainage lead. The route beneath the Cosmopolis Club remains available but unexplored.
  • The party hunted the killer openly, then stealthily. This led them directly to the Rat House attack and drew the guard’s attention.

People

  • Captain Snowmane: Agreed to take the party to Barovia; reacted powerfully to reports of undead and animated the ship’s wood.
  • Renier: Longtime River Dancer shipmate who spoke with Carver and Ignatius.
  • Armond Duvalle: The River Dancer’s human foreman.
  • Slippery Siv: Found a drainage route beneath the Cosmopolis Club.
  • Gilos: A local man who said Martira Bay’s guards were failing to solve the killings.

Places

  • River Dancer: Snowmane agreed to carry the party to Barovia from this gambling ship.
  • Cosmopolis Club: Siv found a drainage-system route to spaces below it.
  • Rat House: Site of the Boneless and rat-swarm attack; chanting came from within.

Rewards, losses, and character changes

  • Black Lily’s remaining goods — sold for 1,200 gp; proceeds treated as communal treasure.
  • Rage — bitten by the rat-swarm creature and left with an unidentified infection.

Open questions

  • What history makes Snowmane react so strongly to undead, and what is the nature of her magic?
  • What is Rage’s infection, and how can it be treated?
  • Who or what was chanting within the Rat House?
  • Is the rat-swarm creature connected to Jack and the leg-taking killings?
  • What lies beneath the Cosmopolis Club through Siv’s drainage route?

Next session

  • Immediate situation: The party is hiding on Martira Bay rooftops as guards converge on the Rat House.
  • Likely goals: Evade the guard response, investigate the Rat House and the killings, explore the Cosmopolis Club route, or prepare for the River Dancer’s voyage to Barovia.

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