Very brief session of Wicked Ones last night, following last time's foray into gnome terror.
Our heroes (so to speak), pursuing their master plan, are trying to make the Sepulcher of Suffering a pilgrimage destination for the Dark Folk. As such, they have invite the Duke of Salvage, the ruler of Bartertown, to the Sepulcher for negotiation on putting a shrine to the Dark Three in his town and setting up trade and travel between their various places.
The Duke of Salvage - a nasty, arrogant, long-limbed bugbear - arrives with his two bugbear killers. They all sit round a table in the entrance hall of the Sepulcher, and the Duke, feet on the table, quaffing Pit Wine, demands to know why he should allow a shrine to these gods in Bartertown.
Baldruf tells him that more traffic is better for both places - more traffic means more money, more money, more trouble. The Duke laughs this off; he doesn't feel like the "Dark Three" are worth his time and this whole just seems weak. Baldruf notes that the Duke wears a medallion of Gorlag, the Blessed Emperor, the God of Conquest and Tyranny. He's not going to respect or even deal with anyone he doesn't see as an equal.
Thudd brings the Duke a mug of ale that they've drugged - not to do anything harmful, but just to introduce a little chaos. Thudd extols the virtues of Nezame, the Joyful Hedonist, and advises the Duke to lighten up a bit and take pleasure in the worship. The Duke quaffs the ale, and does indeed loose up, but also follows his first impulse (as Thudd put a couple of drops of Outburst Draught in that beer), grabs Thudd by the throat, and shakes them vigorously in a friendly bugbear kind of way.
"Hey!" says Fnort. "Put down that imp!" He charges over, grabs one of the killers, and tosses him towards the mimic in the corner (presently disguised as a tithing box. The mimic opens up and glomps onto the bugbear, chewing but not eating, and the Duke laughs boisterously and drops Thudd. Fnort signals to the mimic and it releases the bugbear.
During all this, Yog-en-Yeg has been getting ready. He comes up in a sparkly outfit with all of the imps of the Sepulcher in costume, and during a blistering drum solo they do an interpretive dance depicting the last major battle involving Bartertown and how the Duke of Salvage utterly dominated. Unbeknownst to the Duke, however, this whole dance routine is cover for an invocation to the three that subtly shifts the Duke's mind, making him view the Sepulcher as equals, rather than inferiors. Once the number is over, the Duke applauds, demands more ale, and then unfurls a map of Bartertown. "All right then!" he bellows. "Where should we put this shrine?"
Following this agreement, the Wicked Ones all throw a drunken rager that winds up costing some gold to cover/repair, but it's very worth it. Over the weeks that follow, they work on improving the dungeon more - they build a prison (Yog-en-Yeg and Baldruf clear the rooms, while Thudd makes the locks) and a room for the kobold guards to hang out (Fnort finds it; there's only one entrance to the room and it involves crawling through the crevasse in the entrance hall, past Mr. Tentacles). Thudd finishes the clockwork groom for Pearl, his horse/husband, and life in the Sepulcher seems to be going well.
The Wicked Ones decide they are ready to escalate their plan to become the Dark Megachurch, as it were. They don't want to make the Sepulcher a public space, which means they effectively need a small town outside it. They decide to invade what remains of Ikae's Refuge, capture the remaining citizens, conscript them, and drive them as a captive army against the Light-aligned town of Charter Hollow.
This is very much the most aggressive and overt action the Sepulcher has taken. Let's see how it plays out.
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