The charcoal-robed kidnappers

Stub-class article · First seen: s21 · Last seen: s21
The charcoal-robed kidnappers
Portrait of The charcoal-robed kidnappers.
Character
StatusUnknown
First seens21
Last seens21

The charcoal-robed kidnappers are the three unidentified people who took Pell, the Greysmere innkeeper’s son, on the night the party arrived in session 21. They are known only from the account of Fen, the one witness: three people “all in charcoal robes”, with several undead, one of whom said “Mother wants him alive” [1]. They have never been seen on-screen, and the DM has not linked them to the cultists the party met at the ridge temple in sessions 22 and 23 [33][20].

Overview

The charcoal-robed kidnappers are three unidentified people who, with undead in tow, took Pell from Greysmere on the night the party arrived [2][26][1]. This is a group page for all three: none has a name, and none has been seen on-screen.

Appearance and demeanour

Fen, the only witness, saw three people “all in charcoal robes”, accompanied by several undead, one of whom said “Mother wants him alive” as they dragged Pell “up north to the woods” [1]. His “at least like 50” undead is a frightened estimate, not a count. The only charcoal cloth the party has seen is on the severed hand, which wears “charcoal clothing that is twisted around one finger” [7].

Relationships

  • Pell: their captive, wanted alive [1].
  • Mother: the figure they invoked. Whether she is the Mother Sarah that Rime later names is not stated [27].
  • Fen: chopped a hand off one of the figures taking Pell, a body that “didn’t look alive” [2][3].
  • The severed hand: wears the charcoal cloth; whether it belonged to one of the three or to an undead is not stated.
  • The temple’s cultists, among them the pendant cultist: no link is stated.

Disposition towards the party

Never met. The party took on the job of finding Pell [4][28].

Notable quotes

“It was three people, right? They’re all in charcoal robes. They were accompanied by several undead. at least like 50, I think. One of them said, one of them said, what was it? Mother wants him alive. And they said this is why they were dragging him up north to the woods.” — Fen (Nick, DM), [1]

History in the campaign

Session 21: The Hand That Points North

Main article: Session 21

Fen’s account of the night is the only description of the three [1]. The innkeeper and Fen spoke of weird raids that stole “Paint, rugs, food, tools” and bodies from the open graves [4][5][6]. In the storehouse the party found a list of the stolen goods and footprints from several nights, then a silver-paint trail that gave out and a single wheelbarrow track north [29], ending at a ridge temple with a stolen wheelbarrow beside its stair [11]. The party followed the track on the guess that Pell had been taken there [30][31]; the DM has not said that the raiders and the kidnappers are the same. The temple’s undead sentries wore no charcoal: the one robed figure wore “rotting burial robes” [12].

Session 22: The Dragon in the Statue

Main article: Session 22

The kidnappers are not mentioned. In the temple Rime said he had hidden there “but not before the cultist found me” [16], the party found “multiple offerings from cultists in front of the Vecna statue” [32], and at the end of the session it watched “roughly one cultist and what seems to be five undead minions” walk in [33]. The DM drew no link to the three.

Session 23: The Changeling in Manacles

Main article: Session 23

The kidnappers are not mentioned. The party killed a woman cultist who was leading Kole, a manacled prisoner, to be sacrificed, with a skeleton and three zombie-like creatures [19][20][21][22]. She carried a holy symbol of Vecna, and the DM gave her no robes and no colour [21][23]. The three took Pell because “Mother wants him alive”, and nothing says that he is meant for sacrifice or that she was one of them. See The pendant cultist (Session 23).

Status

As of session 23. Unknown. The three have not been seen and Pell is still missing. One of the temple’s cultists has been met and killed, but the DM has drawn no link to the three; that they belong to one cult is the natural reading and remains unconfirmed. Who took Pell, and whether it was the temple’s cult, are questions for the DM.

See also

References

  1. ^ Session 21, line 289: Fen's account: "It was three people, right? They're all in charcoal robes. They were accompanied by several undead."; "Mother wants him alive.".
  2. ^ Session 21, line 187: The innkeeper: Fen cut the hand off "when he saw undead creatures taking my son".
  3. ^ Session 21, line 300: Fen: the body he cut the hand from "didn't look alive".
  4. ^ Session 21, line 202: The innkeeper: "Really weird raids of late. Stealing stuff.".
  5. ^ Session 21, line 332: Fen on the thefts: "Paint, rugs, food, tools.".
  6. ^ Session 21, line 447: Bodies stolen from "the open graves".
  7. ^ Session 21, line 481: The severed hand wears "charcoal clothing that is twisted around one finger".
  8. ^ Session 21, line 635: The storehouse list: goods taken, while "coins and alcohol and valuable parcels are left behind".
  9. ^ Session 21, line 651: Footprints from "several different nights": the raids are repeated.
  10. ^ Session 21, line 664-668: The silver-paint trail gives out; then "one singular track, like a wheelbarrow" runs north.
  11. ^ Session 21, line 708: The track ends at a ridge temple: "a stolen wheelbarrow that lies beside a cleared stone stair".
  12. ^ Session 21, line 797: The temple's six undead sentries; the only robed one wears "rotting burial robes".
  13. ^ Session 21, line 1588-1596: "The hand has stopped moving."; Terry's "We killed the host." (s21 L1596) is a player's claim, and the host is unidentified.
  14. ^ Session 22, line 799: At the statue's feet, "incense burns inside what looks to be a dragon chessboard" (possibly the stolen goods; no DM link).
  15. ^ Session 22, line 864: Rime: "She wasn't supposed to start taking people." (bears on the kidnapping; an inference).
  16. ^ Session 22, line 904: Rime: "not before the cultist found me" (no stated link to the kidnappers).
  17. ^ Session 22, line 1883-1885: "multiple offerings from cultists in front of the Vecna statue"; "a decent amount of foot traffic".
  18. ^ Session 22, line 1899-1904: "roughly one cultist and what seems to be five undead minions" walk into the temple (no stated link to the kidnappers).
  19. ^ Session 23, line 310: A cultist leads a prisoner in: "take him to the executioner and make him a sacrifice for God" (no stated link to the kidnappers).
  20. ^ Session 23, line 347: What the party finds inside: a "woman holding a one of her pendants to the wall", "a skeleton and three zombie-looking creatures" and a manacled man, who is Kole and not Pell.
  21. ^ Session 23, line 944: The cultist dies: "her flesh and her clothes melt away" (the DM describes no robes and no colour).
  22. ^ Session 23, line 1442: The DM: she "was leading Kole to be sacrificed" (nothing of the kind is said of Pell).
  23. ^ Session 23, line 1453-1457: Her effects: "a holy symbol and leather armor and a dagger"; "It seems to be a holy symbol of Vecna.".
  24. ^ Session 23, line 1642-1644: Rime: "There's loads of cultists in here."; "At least more than five.".
  25. ^ Session 23, line 1641-1647: Told that the party "fought a female cultist", Rime still asks "Are you ready to face Mother Sarah?".
  26. ^ Session 21, line 200: Inline citation.
  27. ^ Session 22, line 890: Inline citation.
  28. ^ Session 21, line 446: Inline citation.
  29. ^ Session 21, line 635-668: Inline citation.
  30. ^ Session 21, line 669: Inline citation.
  31. ^ Session 21, line 709: Inline citation.
  32. ^ Session 22, line 1883: Inline citation.
  33. ^ Session 22, line 1904: Inline citation.
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