15.2 Strategy Is Not a Sin

SESSION DATE: August 16, 2025
PRESENT: Rory, Kemurial, Calanthia, Freya

Deep Dive

![[Rory - 15_2 Strategy Is Not a Sin.mp4]]
![[Rory - 15_2 Strategy Is Not a Sin.m4a]]

Adventure Photos

![[Kemurial Activates Magic Mouth Letter.mp4]]

Adventure Song & Lyrics

![[Strategy Is Not a Sin.mp3]]

[Verse 1]
The last one's tied, he will not speak his mind
Calanthia leaves the kinder world behind
I turn away, I cannot watch the pain
But hear the screams that echo in the rain
We find a letter sealed with magic's brand
And place the cryptic message in Max's hand
He breaks the lock, a mouth begins to form
A single word to conjure up the storm

[Chorus]
He looked his brother deeply in the eye
And chose that moment as the time to die
A final whisper as the life gives in
"My brother, know that strategy is not a sin"

[Verse 2]
We wait for hours in the audience hall
And watch the anxious shadows on the wall
A guard admits the meeting's gone too long
We know that something here is going wrong
We find them walking, talking of the past
A memory that was never meant to last
We pull them close and warn them of the threat
A game of shadows that's not over yet

[Bridge]
We speak the word, the paper starts to speak
And Villem gasps, suddenly pale and weak
He sees the archer, tells his brother "Go!"
Then takes the arrows from a hidden bow

[Chorus]
He looked his brother deeply in the eye
And chose that moment as the time to die
A final whisper as the life gives in
"My brother, know that strategy is not a sin"

[Solo]

[Verse 3]
He's on the floor, the poison takes its hold
A final, desperate story to be told
A western gate, a coming arcane fire
A final gift upon his funeral pyre
We speak with dead to hear his voice again
He warns us of the stigmata on the skin
The Duke reveals a key of crystal clear
And finds the will to fight away the fear

[Chorus]
He looked his brother deeply in the eye
And chose that moment as the time to die
A final whisper as the life gives in
"My brother, know that strategy is not a sin"

[Chorus]
He'll see his brother in his memory's eye
And know he didn't only choose to die
A final whisper lets the hope begin
"My brother, know that strategy is not a sin"

World Anvil Journal

sooo... we had one of the cuwtithtth tied up. cawanthia wath huwtin him to make him tawk. i dont wike that tho i wint away with kimiweel to keep watch. i heawd him thkweem. he towd uth they wewe a thweepew theww an that they poithun the food with majik. he awtho thed the othew abewant cuwtitht had a methaje on him.

we theawched the bodith an fownd a bag of howdin with a wot of gowd an thum weawwy thtwong gauntwetth. an we fownd the wettew. it had pwotective majik on it. we took it to makth an he hewped uth open it. i thudjethted we thay one of the kaoth god nameth. we thed thwaneesh an a mowth opind on the wettew an thed GIVE THE ATHATHINTH MY APPWOOVAW. WE WIWW STWIKE TONITE. we awweady got attacked by athathinth onthe.

we aww took a wetht an got pwotection fwom poithun thpewwth fwom makth. thin we wint to the thitadew to wawn the dook. we had to wait fow a wong time cuz he wath in a meetin with hith bwothew viwwem. the gawdth got wowwied tho we wint to wook fow them. we fownd them tawkin in a hawwwway. cawanthia withened to them.

we wawked up an towd them abowt the athathinth. we showed them the wettew an thed thwaneesh agin. win the wettew tawked viwwem gwabbed hith thide an wath in a wot of pain. he towd the dook to wun. thin two awwowth hit viwwem fwom awound the cownew. cawanthia shot bak at a shadowy guy. i gwabbed my thowd to pwotect the dook. the athathin bwoke a window an ethcaped.

viwwem wath dyin. he had yucky cowwuption mawkh undew hith wobeth. he wath a twaitow. but he twied to be good at the end. he thed i cudnt do it an that thewe wath an attack pwanned on the wethtewn gate tonite with a wot of majik. kimiweel twied weawwy weawwy hawd to thave him but he died.

the dook wath tho thad an in deniow. cawanthia towd him hith bwothew wath a hewo at the end. we did anothew thpeak with ded on viwwem. he towd uth to cut the head off the thnake an that a goddeth named athtathith ith buwied undew pwaag. hith watht wowdth to hith bwothew wewe stwategy ith not a thin.

we weawned that athtathith ith a goddeth of waw who ith twapped in a cwythtaw coffin an needth cwythtaw keyth to be fweed. we towd the dook evewythin. he wath thad but thin he took owt a wittow cwythtaw key fwom hith thowd. it wath one of the keyth. he gave it to uth. cawanthia gave the dook a weawwy good thpeech an it made him feew bettew an weady to fight. he thed wetth thet a twap.

dwaugnir pweethe pwotect the dook an hewp uth thet a good twap. an pweethe keep my pawenth thafe whewevew they awe.

Private Notes

• Kemurial thinks about casting Charm Monster on the remaining enemy that we had restrained from last session. He thinks Freya could read his thoughts to get the truth out of him. We don't do that though. Instead, we leave Calanthia to question the creature.
• Calanthia uses torturous tactics to get the Aberrant Cultist to answer questions. Rory doesn't support torture tactics, so he moves away. He only keeps an eye on the perimeter with Kemurial.
• Calanthia asks how long they've been poisoning the food supplies, to which he replies "It doesn't matter." The cultist just drops his head. Calanthia proceeds with her process, and the cultist screams. Kemurial returns when he hears the scream. Rory doesn't follow. Calanthia asks about other distribution sources, to which he replies that he doesn't know about any of the others other than that they've been ineffective up to this point, but he doesn't know any more. Calanthia asks about their goal for poisoning the supplies. He replies that winter is coming and they want to end the siege as quickly as possible. Calanthia asks, presuming their plan was successful, what the next step is. The cultist responds saying that they were to simply lay in wait, being a sleeper cell for when the main assault happened. Kemurial asks what's going on. He doesn't seem to agree with Calanthia's tactics either. Calanthia continues, asking where they are waiting. They don't congregate except for missions. They spread through the city so as not to attrack attention. Could be anywhere, or everywhere. Calanthia pressures him, asking where they're staying. He says he swears he doesn't know where everyone else is. He was staying at a nearby tavern. None of his colleagues were staying there. Calanthia hands questioning over to Kemurial. Kemurial tries to persuade him using Charm Monster, but the cultist resists it. Kemurial asks him to elaborate. The cultist swears up and down that no one person knows everything because they are kept separated. Kemurial seems to believe him. The only other thing this creature knows is that the other aberrant cultist carried a message on him, and we should start there. The cultist says the poison/spoilage of the food is magical/ritualistic.
• We search the bodies here, and find a Bag of Holding on the other aberrant cultist. In it is 38,000g and Gauntlets of Ogre Power. There is also, as the cultist mentioned, a sealed letter.
• Kemurial casts Detect Magic on the letter, and it is indeed magical. It seems to have some kind of protective magic on it. Kemurial hands it to Freya to investigate. She says she can cast Dispel Magic, but she's afraid that might cause issues with the message itself. Rory suggests taking the letter to Max to see if there is anything he can do to help.
• The rest of us check out the rest of the warehouse. Rory checks the desk at the back. Kemurial detects magic at the desk as well. Rory discovers a Lock of Trickery inside the desk. Rory doesn't know what to do with it so he hands it to Calanthia. Maybe she could use it as a practice lock or something, he doesn't know. It's just a gift.
• We head back to Ulrika, Max and Felix at the tent at the command post. Calanthia speaks to them, showing and telling them what we discovered. We hand them the letter. Max takes a look. He takes a moment to cast Identify. He says that there seems to be two spells affecting the item. One is similar to Arcane Lock, and the other is Magic Mouth. He says he can dispel the lock spell and leave the Magic Mouth spell. We agree, and he does so. He says typically there's a trigger that will play the message, essentially. Rory looks at the prisoner we have with us. He suggests trying the names of the Chaos gods. As soon as we mention "Slaanesh", the mouth opens.
• The letter speaks in a slightly distorted voice, saying "Give the assassins my approval. We will strike tonight." Interesting. We've already been attacked by assassins once before.
• Calanthia suggests that we all have a potion to neutralize poison on us in case we're attacked.
• Ulrika says that they can shore up the defenses, Gotrek will be fine. She suggests we should tell the Duke that there's a plot boiling, and we don't know the target.
• We take a Short Rest before heading out to see the Duke. While resting, Rory tells Ulrika that if they keep the cultist in a cell, make sure it's not in the cell with his other psi lens. She assures him they'll place him in the stockades where we did our Speak with Dead interrogation. Also during the rest, Freya reads her book, and the rest of us look for poison resistance-type items. In the end, we decide to have Max cast the Protection from Poison spell on us at 40g each.
• We wait for daybreak at the command post before getting Max to cast the spell on us, then we head out to the citadel to tell the Duke everything we've found out so far. This allows us to take more Short Rests, during which Freya converts some spell slots and does her magic-y stuff, and Rory regains all uses of Rage. And because it's a new day by this point, our Enspelled equipment regains a number of uses. Kemurial regains enough uses to recast Mind Blank on us all again. Nice!
• It's time to leave now, so we pay Max a visit for our spells, and we head out.
• We arrive without any issues to the citadel with half an hour left on our protective spells. We meet with the guards and are led in to the primary audience chamber. While there, we're told the Duke and his brother Villem are having a private meeting at the moment. We are taken to the waiting area.
• We sit here waiting for quite some time. Rory looks around and notices that some nearby guards are looking a little anxious and worried. We talk to the guards and they say they'd have expected the Duke back by now. They're going to send someone to start looking for him. We offer our assistance. They send us along the western side of the citadel while they check the other side.
• We make it to a hallway that has some windows looking out over a parapet. We hear the sound of two people talking. It sounds like Villem and the Duke. Calanthia signals for us to be quiet. Rory attempts to be as silent as possible. Calanthia listens carefully to what's being said. The duke says "You're quiet brother, this is unlike you." Villem sighs and says "Do you remember what father used to do when winter came through?" They're reminiscing, with Villem speaking more to himself than together. They continue to stroll, small steps along the halls. The duke listens. Before they reach a corner of the hall. The Duke asks Villem "Tell me what's disturbing you." There's a pause. At this point Kemurial begins walking up. They greet Kemurial when they notice him walking up to them. Kemurial says we're looking for him to update him on our latest findings. Calanthia moves up to them as well. Calanthia suggests they all move into a cubby along the walls for cover. Kemurial mentions that we came looking for them because their meeting was taking longer than usual and they were getting concerned. Calanthia again tries to get them into the cubby area for cover. The duke asks what this is all about, and Villem asks if they can't just take a stroll through their own citadel. Calanthia warns them about the impending assassination that we've uncovered. Villem asks how we came about this information. Calanthia tells them of our mission last night, and about the letter we discovered. Rory comes up and suggests showing them the letter, and letting them hear it, to which they agree. We say the magic word "Slaanesh" and the letter speaks. The moment this happens, Villem begins grabbing his side, clearly in pain. Villem tells the Duke to "Go with them down the hallway the way we came. You'll be fine." We hear light footsteps around the corner from the direction they were walking. Villem says to some forces unseen to us "Don't do it!". Just then, Villem receives two arrows to his chest, and Calanthia immediately responds down the hallway around the corner with her own crossbow bolts. They hit a shadowy silhouette. The moment this all goes down, Rory grabs his sword preparing for other forces to arrive and protect the Duke as much as he can. We hear the pitter patter of feet running down the hall and the shattering of glass, presumably as the assassin escapes. We all stay with the Duke and Villem. Kemurial rounds the corner and notices the broken window and drapes billowing in the wind. Villem is lying on the ground gasping for breath. Kemurial tries using Keoghtom's Ointment on Villem to try to save him. He's still gasping. Kemurial tries Healing Hands on him as well. Villem says "I couldn't do it." Kemurial continues to try to save Villem. It's a race against time. Kemurial must have three successes before getting three failures to save him. Villem says "I looked out over the city and I remembered the times with my brother. It made me doubt." Kemurial again continues to attempt to save him. Villem spits blood out of the side of his mouth. It's tainted with a purple miasma. Kemurial continues. Villem says "There's an attack planned on the western gate for tonight. It's going to be significant arcane magic." Kemurial continues. Two successes and one failure so far. Just needs one more to succeed. Blood begins coming out of his eyes, rolling down the sides of his face toward his ears. Failure. One more success is all he needs. Come on, Kemurial! Kemurial puts all he's got into this last attempt. Unfortunately, it's not good enough. Villem perishes as the corruption overwhelms him.
• Underneath Villem's robes are marks of corruption going up from his left hip up to his chest, just to where his collar and lapel would be.
• Freya, Friar Karl and Rory continue to protect the Duke as he retreats as his brother asked him to do. At this time, the guards catch up.
• The Duke cries out to his brother. Kemurial is carrying him over his shoulder. The Duke asks what they've done to his brother. Kemurial explains he's trying to save him. The Duke is in shock while mourning the loss of his brother. Calanthia moves up to the Duke and offers her condolences for his loss. She apologizes that we had to expose Villem in this fashion. The Duke mutters to himself. He's in denial. Calanthia tries to console him a bit by telling him his brother tried to help in his dying moments when he told us about the looming attack. The Duke instructs the guards to prepare the city for the attack. The Duke wishes to have us with him and Villem for questioning during a Speak With Dead session.
• We fast forward a bit. The guards double up security on the citadel, the Duke returns to his chambers for a bit, runners are sent to Max to update them on our findings and the goings on.
• We are taken to the questioning area where we are to do this questioning. We are given some time to discuss the questions we will ask.
  1. How do we defeat the Chaos forces?
  2. Where is the object or item of power being pursued by the Chaos forces at Praag?
  3. What are the names of other high-ranking political figures in Praag supporting the Chaos forces?
  4. How can we identify Chaos forces that have already infiltrated the city?
  5. What would you like to say to your brother as your final words?
• We continue with the Speak With Dead session. The zealot paladin from our last Speak With Dead session comes into the room and proceeds to cast the spell. The corpse gasps, droning to life and stares forward waiting for the questions.
  1. "Cut the head off the snake."
  2. "It's rumored that the body of Astasis is buried underneath Praag. I don't know where."
  3. "To my knowledge, I'm the only one of any stature that has infiltrated Praag. The others are lackeys or opportunists."
  4. "Check for stigmata. Any that have sworn to the Chaos gods will show physical signs of corruption."
  5. "Strategy is not a sin."
• The corpse collapses back to the table.
• The zealot tells us Astasis, also known as Arianka, is the god of law, or god of purity, and is rumored to be imprisoned by Tzeentch, waiting in a crystal coffin, waiting to be freed by crystal keys. That sounds interesting.
• Kemurial casts Legend Lore to try to recall some more information about Astasis. He finds out that "in Praag's darkest hour the goddess Arianka shall rise from the dead, and she shall smite the hordes of Chaos and drive them from this land for ever... There shall come a champion -- a man of Chaos, yet not of Chaos. Dark his deeds, but darker his doom! And he shall seek out the Crystal Keys and wrest them from the clutch of evil... ...And the Doomed One shall ride out from Praag, across the gushing Lynsk and thence into Norsca. And there, the forces of Chaos will close around him..." Good job Kemurial.
• Rory takes some time to cast Commune with Nature, mostly attempting to see if perhaps Astasis might ping nearby, but he gets nothing of the sort. The same tent as last time pings for both the CR10+ creature and the portal question, and the only nearby body of water is the river.
• We head back to the Duke and inform him of all that we learned. We are shown into an antechamber to his private quarters. There's a large hearth, large table, several chairs. The Duke is sitting in a chair at the end of the table. He has a glass of wine in front of him, with his elbows on the table, head in hands. He looks up and motions for us to approach. We do so.
• Kemurial thanks him for seeing us once more. We fill him in on all that we've learned. The Duke responds, saying "Arianka, eh? What a name from legend. Hmm." Kemurial asks if he knows anything of her. He says "I don't want to put you on a red herring, but you are deserving of some information. Saving my life and trying to save my brother's." He takes the blade that he wears and the pommel opens. He pulls out a small crystal key and lays it on the table. He says "The only information I have for you is this key is either a confirmation of the story that you've heard, or at least that something along those lines has happened. This was passed down from my father, and his father. So was the story. But I don't know a location, nor how many keys there are. This is all I have." The Duke shrugs and says he hasn't thought about it in years. He always assumed there'd be four keys, but he's unsure. Four gods of Chaos. Four gods of Law. Kemurial asks if he knows of anyone we might ask for more information about this legend. He says none that are reachable, but maybe the Ice Queen or the elves. They have great knowledge. He says he's unsure if it's even worth pursuing. Calanthia walks across the table, stands in the fron the Duke, and says "Your Highness, we all grieve for the loss of your brother, but remember this. He was able to fight the corruption and share information that could save this city. What he needs from you now is that leadership. His final words for you were 'Strategy is not a sin'. The only way that can be employed is if you get out of that chair and save... this... city. Thousands of lives depend on you. With your command, your forces cannot easily be routed. Then with your brother's information, you can have a funeral and ceremony that laud him as a hero that saved Praag, rather than as a traitor." She waits for a reaction. The Duke says "If I've ever had anything, it's the will to fight. My brother's words may mean more to me than to you. His words give me pause and make me think. I don't know if pursuing this lost goddess is the way to save Praag and perhaps the world, but perhaps I can fight. We can do it in a way where we can cut the head off the snake. Let's talk about setting a trap."

That's it for tonight's session!

Adventure Loot

• Gauntlets of Ogre Power (8000g)
• Bag of Holding
• Lock of Trickery (Calanthia)

Loose Gold Found

Total: 38000g + 4000g (Gauntlets of Ogre Power)
Converted:
Split: 10500g

• Gold has been split