The Dig - Chronological order of Events
A simple, well paying job goes horribly wrong and the party has to flee for their lives. What exactly happened remains unclear but seems to have had quite some repercussions.
The protagonists
| Current | Retired | ||||||||
| Regius Osea | Liddy Goodbarrel | ||||||||
| Reb | Hanur | ||||||||
| Harpin Falconhand | Arosin Quindriall | ||||||||
| Butch | Cassandra Lovell |
Loveria
The four protagonists find themselves in Korint, capital of Loveria, where they come across a job opportunity. At this point they don't know each other but when they hear about an organization that offers triple normal pay for work somewhere out in the countryside they all decide to join up. It turns out their mystery employer is House Ditta and the job site is in the Amorgus Swamp, quite a distance away.
They, and a number of other new employees are all put onto a caravan with supplies to their destination in the east. The first part of the journey up to Pefki is quite safe but for the second part everyone is warned for nomadic ‘bandit’ tribes and other possible dangers. After twenty, luckily uneventful, days they arrive at their new home; The Dig.
After things have gone horribly wrong, the party and "Red" flee till night falls and they have to make camp in the swamp. They are still alive and haven't met any rodents of unusual size, so far, so they are counting their blessings. The entire sky has strange green sheen tonight, not something any of them have ever seen before.
The next morning they bury the arm Liddy was carrying around and then it's time for the trek back to civilization. Unfortunately no one present has any particular wilderness skills. Hanur volunteers to navigate their way west and does an admirable job. Regius' attempts at foraging for food and water are less stellar. Then things get a little hairy when Hanur and Regius walk right into quicksand but fortunately the others manage to pull them out.
The next day the foraging is much improved and in the afternoon they are quite surprised when a quite large boar (but not unusually large!), with a broken spear sticking from its back, comes charging out of the underbrush and hits Regius, almost bowling the poor cleric over. The fight is tough as no one is carrying any weapon larger than a dagger. Some healing magic from both Liddy and Regius means that the boar is dead before it can kill anyone.
Another day and now they come across a ramshackle building in the middle of the forest. At the back of it they find a shovel, a pick, a crowbar, a hammer and some nails, all just about still usable. It's a mess inside with lots of debris and animal nests and if it wasn't for a ferret they wouldn't have found a trapdoor in the floor.
In the twenty foot deep cellar below a ladder can be seen laying on the ground, and a little ways away from there, a skeleton with ten spent torches laying in a perfect circle around it. 50 foot of hempen rope lays in a neat coil next to the skeleton on one side, a backpack on the other. Hanur survives a fall and a snake bite but manages to recover the backpack and the rope, eventually even getting all that back up to the others.
The backpack contains manacles, a tinderbox, a lump of coal, a waterskin (empty), a mess kit, a pouch containing 20 gp, a small item wrapped in silk, and a piece of velum; a patented questionnaire. The item wrapped in silk turns out to be a Flawless Hand Mirror.
The next morning they come to a sizeable river they need to cross, in the far distance are what might be two large statues facing each other, according to "Red" they must be ancient. Regius wades through the river but forgets to tie the rope to a tree first. Then when Arosin is the last to cross he almost forgets to untie the rope. They come to a cliff in the afternoon but it is easily scaled. The terrain now becomes more of a savanna turning into prairie; this is where the tribes roam, "Red" warns them.
Two days later they come across a strange hill in the landscape, Hanur, a student of history, recognizes it as a burial mound. He even knows that often the entrance/exit was facing to the south. Liddy doesn't think it's a good idea to disturb it but the others think it could contain some useful loot, especially since no one has any real weapons. Regius tries to placate the halfling by telling her they'll leave money for any items they'll take.
After opening it up they find that inside there's a skeleton on a bier. It is wearing (copper) coin armor and has a bronze longsword and shortsword. Moss agate gems have been laid on its eyes and its feet is a piece of hack-silver and a wicked looking dagger made of a large tooth of some creature. A trapdoor is set in the ceiling over the skeleton. They take all three weapons but leave everything else untouched.
Next day they look to be a lot closer to civilization and come across a small abandoned fortress. Libby suspects it might be one built by the Companions of Elric in the past. Unfortunately there is nothing inside except for three Restless (undead) in the cellar. A difficult fight breaks out where they learn that zombies are particularly hard to put down, the last one taking about ten attempts. Half-orc hardiness means the fight didn't go against them but Liddy is brought low and no one has any healing left. They manage to stabilize her and bring her along.
The next morning the halfling is fine again but unfortunately "Red" is not; he has been weak all journey but tried to hide it. Now he feels his time is up. He gives Liddy a small wooden box and a signet ring with the letters RM on it. "Don’t open it, once opened, it can’t be restored. Don’t trust anyone. Don’t give it to anyone in House Ditta, just to Emese, my sister, in Ide Volcar" he pleads with her. He does ask the party to tell House Ditta what happened at the Dig. His last words to them are: "May the wind be at your back. Good fortune touch your hand." They bury him and continue on their journey.
Late that afternoon they come to a fortified farm and inn, where the Selchoun family takes good care of them. The next morning before they can leave for Pefki, a traveler arrives with a cart. He knows the name of all party members and has brought them newly bought items; exactly everything they had to leave behind at the Dig (clothes, weapons, etc.).
The party is quite surprised by this and the man, Orin, explains that he doesn't really know why he's here. Someone he can't really remember told him to bring these items here. All he remembers is that he was approached after he attended services for a new goddess that only revealed herself to the world just over a week ago; Istus. He explains what she is all about, he's become quite an enthusiastic worshiper of her.
Korint
Eventually the party arrives back at the capital and they immediately go see House Ditta. They end up in a room with Zdenek Honadi and he has a priest of Boccob brought in to cast a Zone of Truth spell to verify everything they are telling them is true, as he can hardly believe what he is hearing. Eventually he thanks them and pays them all 25 gp each, asking them to come back tomorrow as he will go check on some things and will likely have more questions, he'll pay them another 25 gp then.
Everyone goes their way; Arosin and Regius go check out a service to Istus on Terta Square. The man leading the service, Vardan Brekker is quite compelling, people are quite enthused about this new goddess. Afterwards Arosin spots Hanur talking with Vardan. Regius tries to convince people that Ulaa is the goddess to follow, and has some success. Liddy goes to the Companions of Elric and manages to get room and board for all of them there. Over dinner they discuss their day and the latest gossip in town; there's something going on at Kasarian Embassy; lots of people keep coming in and out. The other thing keeping the town busy is the upcoming Stiltorq tournament.
The next morning they return to House Ditta and learn that the man they knew as "Red" was actually Ratik Meloi, of the royal house of Haza. They are debriefed further, this time also by Centak Mairin Othmeir of Bruised But Not Broken who has been hired to go to the Dig and recover the situation.
Afterwards the party goes looking for more work and finds a notice board:
- The Lucky Hare, a high class restaurant, is looking for someone to gather ingredients in the Nitiki Woods.
- Queen Rissi Theater seeks a great negotiator.
- Someone at Artists Alley seeks nude models.
As they are contemplating their options they are approached by a man who introduces himself as Velkor Oberlee. He tells them he has a lead on a bolthole that is likely still full of interesting items. He is willing to sell them the location and give them a piece of vellum containing Dark Speech words they might need to get to it. Hanur is immediately enthusiastic about this and the others are soon too, Regius is skeptic though. Still, they pay him the 25 gp he asks for.
Next they go to the restaurant and the chef there, Elmontius, tells them he wants sprite members, but only ripe ones! He explains how to find the correct ones, what they look like and how to harvest them. They will pay 5 gp per kilo. The party now has a nice journey planned, being able to combine both jobs with a visit to Drendeven, where Liddy is from. Hanur does some research; good thing the Companions have a library and are willing to grant her access! She learns that the Vresto family used to be big in the sheep trade but can't find what happened to them.
Vresto Mansion / Nitiki Woods / Drendeven
The next morning they leave town and eventually reach Vresto Mansion where they have some interesting encounters.
Next stop is the Nitiki Woods where they start looking for sprite members. At first they find other mushrooms, Liddy knows they are the kind that can give you really interesting night. Eventually they find a small circle of sprite members and take them. Then they hit the mother lode and find a triple circle of the mushrooms. Just as they are about to pluck the first one, they notice small and larger ambulatory fungi coming towards them.
These creatures release spores and are then able to speak into the minds of the party. This causes Hanur a slight panic as he recently has been having a bone dagger talk in his head already. The mushroom people express their anguish at the party's harvesting of mushrooms, explaining it pains them as they are all a connected consciousness; via something one could call the Wood Wide Web.
Regius isn't very happy when these creatures belittle the intelligence of the 'flesh-bags'. But Liddy immediately apologizes and plants the harvested sprite members back under the direction of one of the creatures. She also promises she will tell people not to take any mushrooms from the forest. In thanks the fungi creatures bring her a small box containing; a (or the?) Blemmigan.
The next day the find a man laying on a rock about an hour outside Drendeven, he introduces himself as Julian Jaconti and he goes with them to Half Town. They are in luck (or has Liddy planned this?) the Spring Festival has just started. There's loads of stuff to do; guess the weight of the pig, guess the number of beads in the jar, ‘bear’ wrasslin’ (kids only), stalls with lots for sale, the Tourney of Talent, a Sling Competition, and the Tower of Strength.
Regius immediately heads for Robin Tower to prove his strength and Hanur can't resist to bet that he can beat the cleric. The entire party has been acting a little strange for a while now; Hanur with his bets, Liddy expounding on the most random of subjects, Arosin rhyming his words (though that could just be a bard thing), and Regius boasting about his looks and putting others down. He does do better at the strength contest than Hanur but as he leaves, a strapping halfling lad does even better.
Three of our friends decide to enter the Tourney of Talent and wouldn't you know, Arosin wins with an absolutely wonderful horn rendition. Afterwards he's approached by a halfling girl, Aloniira Bockhop who takes him behind the barn where they make out and stuff. At the end of the day the results of the beads contest is in, and Arosin won that as well; it really is his lucky day!
Liddy invites everyone to stay with her family and they have a large dinner together. Her cousin Olpara tells a story about Liddy; "when we were kids we snuck into the distillery and the fumes got to her head, she started talking with a thick tongue, saying she was getting really hot, took all her clothes off as we made our way back out and then fell into a large puddle of mud! You should have seen!"
Late into the evening they enjoy everything the brewery and distillery have to offer. Arosin goes to see Aloniira again and manages to really impress her. Afterwards she tells him: "you make love like an elven meal; very small, but so many portions!"
The next morning is rough for most people and the party discovers they are all missing one of their belongings. Regius immediately accuses Julian and goes through his belongings but doesn't find anything. Liddy asks around and finds out that four kids have been having their own little tournament; 'Lifter’s Luck'. She manages to catch Alton Glenoak and gets him to return all the items.
Waterboarded
About half day from Korint a man walks into the road when the party approaches and asks Liddy if she is Liddy, and Arosin if he is Arosin. He has a pretty thick accent, Sormark, probably. Then he casts a fireball spell near them and tells them to surrender. More people appear, all having covered up their face, they are human or elf size, that much seems certain.
The party is taken into the woods and then asked to tell the man everything they can about the Dig and what they saw there. Hanur manages the impossible and doesn't break from the waterboarding he is subjected to. The others do eventually spill the beans though even their interrogator admits that it isn't much they can tell him. The captors then leave on horseback, leaving our friends to free themselves. They leave them their possessions and money but one of them did take the bone dagger found under Vresto Mansion.
Korint, Glow Ice
At the gate they ask the guard if he has seen any groups with horses entering the town this afternoon. He remembers a few; some Companions of Elric, some merchants, some mercenaries, and some adventurers. Hanur then goes up to a beggar and after paying her a gold piece she can tell them that a group of Sormarkers came into town a few days ago, looking really shifty, and looking for ways to enter the town without using the gate.
Then, on the way to the Companions HQ, Arosin spots a boy lifting a merchant's money pouch and handing it off to a girl. He quickly casts a sleep spell and sends them both to dreamland. He then warns the man, who then takes his money back, and gives the bard a gold piece. The merchant then wants to call for the guard but Regius tries to convince him that the children need care, not punishment, and they know where to take them.
The merchant isn't convinced and a guard patrol is seen coming down the street. Liddy quickly wakes the girl and asks her if she knows anything about Sormarkers new in the city and the girl tells her that some have recently come and are smuggling and selling glow ice, some kind of drug. They can be found somewhere in the Esiben quarter, it's near Artists Alley. Liddy gives the girl a silver piece and asks where she can be found, the girl replies that every day she'll be at Plateia Square near the statue of King Brosef, at noon.
Back at the Companions building Liddy goes to Tholli Urdo and tells him about the waterboarding and other things that happened. He is dismayed but not surprised people are wanting more information on the Dig. He doesn't think it's likely the Sormarkers are involved; they are glow ice smugglers, here in Korint better knows as Perfect Day, and he can't see how they would even know about the Dig. This sounds more like the work of the Kasarian Embassy, though it's quite brazen, even for them. But there are many other groups that are interested as well, so he can't be sure.
The next morning Liddy finds a Mysterious Letter has been slid under the door of her room. At breakfast and in town they hear the latest rumors. The glow ice story is hardly new to them but they hadn't yet heard about the Bu Dlite virus that seems to be wreaking havoc down south. And last night someone covered in frost tried to break into Rock & Scroll, he shot some mystic beam at the guard, pushing them away. Next thing he just vanished into thin air.
They haven't forgotten about the curses afflicting them and they go see Vardan Brekker at the new temple of Istus. He tells them that at any temple they would charge probably around 200 gp to lift a single curse. But if they can come back tomorrow then he can probably help them and Istus won't charge them a copper piece, he's sure that in the future the party will be able to help out Istus when needed.
Next they go see the pickpocket girl who tells them a little bit more about the new Sormarkers in town, she knows one is called Bjorn. When asked, she gives them the name of a local drug dealer, "Greasy" Julien, the party hopes that could someone who'll know more. They go see the man and he doesn't fall for Regius' pretending to be a customer. But he has no problem giving them the location of the Sormarkers.
The party decides to drop this matter for now, just in case Julien goes and tells on them, and they go shopping instead. They stop by Rock & Scroll and ask about the (attempted) break-in last night. The owner tells them that she doesn't think anything was stolen, she's still doing inventory to make sure. She hires them on the spot to guard the shop the coming night. Nothing much happens except for Liddy maybe seeing a spectral grey cat out of the corner of her eye for a second.
When they go back to the Companions the next morning Tholli Urdo tells Liddy that he was approached by House Revol; people have gone missing in the village of Vessa, he figured this would be something the halfling paladin and her friends could look into. They have a quick breakfast and then leave for the sugar cane village.
Vessa / Mysterious Letter Cave
After a few days travel they arrive and are met by the House Revol representative who explains that now four people have gone missing in the last six days. Some plans are discussed, including one by Regius that involves greasing up Hanur with bacon grease. Eventually they settle upon wearing dungarees like everyone else and go into the fields to hopefully lure out whoever or whatever is the cause of all this.
The next morning Hanur takes some distance from the others and then suddenly something bursts out of the ground behind the monk; it resembles an enormous many-legged insect, its long antennae twitching in response to any movement around it. Its legs end in sharp hooks adapted for burrowing and grasping its prey, and its powerful mandibles can snap a small tree in half.
Battle ensues and if it wasn't for Hanur's half-orc resilience he would have gone down after the first attack. Eventually the party manages to bring the creature down only to discover almost immediately it had a mate. The second battle goes a little quicker and the second one goes down as well. They decide not to investigate the tunnels the creatures dug. Instead they are celebrated in the inn, and they bask in the admiration.
The next day they set off for the cave the Mysterious Letter has described. The second day into their journey they happen across some laying across a boulder, gaining their consciousness; it's Julian Jaconti again! Just like last time he has no idea how he got there or what happened. But he is happy to travel along with the party on his way to Garios.
When the party gets to the ford indicates in the letter, they follow an arrow made of wooden sticks into the woods and eventually to the Kobold Cave. On the way back to town they meet a House Ditta caravan going to Stjordvik. Apparently people tried to steal from them as they were leaving town and they have captured the would be thieves, taking them with them, to hand them over to law enforcement elsewhere.
Korint, Having a Ball
After a few days of enjoying their spoils in town, Liddy is approached by Tholli Urdo who tells her he received a missive from Lady Tadien. Two things have gone missing from her home and she is looking for people to look into it, as quickly as possible. Tholli thinks it probably needs to be done with some discretion and hopes the paladin and her friends will be suited for this. The party accepts and goes to Thessaly Hall.
The Fallen Star
After solving the 'crime' our friends have a few days with not much to do. They learn the latest news in town; new staff has arrived at the Kasarian Embassy, seemingly out of nowhere, the staff there has about doubled in size. House Ditta asks them to come by again and they are told that Bruised But Not Broken sent a full company to check out the Dig and not a single of those hundred people have returned. Unfortunately there's nothing the party can tell them they haven't heard before.
Then Liddy gets a message from home and she has to go back and help out, her adventuring days are over, for now. She leaves the Blemmigan in the care of Hanur. The next morning, before dawn, a messenger shows up with an urgent missive for the monk and the rest of the party; come see Vardan Brekker immediately and bring anything needed for a journey.
When they arrive at the new temple, Vardan explains that something fell from the sky last night and landed near Pefki. He wants the party to go immediately, find this 'Fallen Star' and get an item from inside of it and bring it to him. He doesn't know what the item looks like but he's sure Hanur will instinctively recognize whatever it is. They are to leave right now; other interested parties will be going there to investigate; the landing shook the earth and woke people here in Korint, and even as far as Skiro.
Our friends leave town and when they get close to Pefki they get to a point where a southern road joins theirs. They see two men and a woman, adventurers, mercenaries, something along those lines, they have a rather threatening posture towards a lone elf woman standing there. The party recognizes her; they saw her around at the Dig when they were there. She looks at the party and pleads for some help.
Regius immediately tries to convert the three to Ulaa, even handing them one of the ten pamphlets he made. When that doesn't work, a command spell sure does. The three realize a fight would not be in their interest and they leave, telling the elf woman that 'this isn't over'. They can finally talk a little and she, Calliope, joins them on their journey.
Not much later a small halfling woman steps out of the woods and onto the road; her left arm much is much longer than the other. She introduces herself as Ranna Amethystall and since our friends can't help but comment on her arm, she explains: "I found this really weird plant; it had these tiny thorns on the inside, when I touched them my arm swelled up huge and then when the swelling went down, this happened. It’s quite handy though, and I got to name the plant! I named it the Armamaximus." The woman tells them that she is a member of Naeslin's Pupils and finding new plants and animals is kinda what they do.
Then she asks if they saw the thing fall from the sky and asks if she can come along as she is looking for whatever it was as well. And thus it's that all five of them eventually spot what they are looking for; a huge rock crashed to earth, the size of a castle, sitting in a crater, though one smaller than one might expect for an object this size. It is just about visible from the road and they make their way there.
When getting closer they notice a number of iris like doors along the outside of the Fallen Star, in a seemingly haphazard pattern. Rana immediately walks right up to the rock and knocks on it, prods it, licks, and does whatever she can think of to try and identify whatever it is made of. There's a noise coming from behind the others and two more people come up to the crater.
There's an older woman with a stooped back and a a young man with a broken nose. They introduce themselves as Sentinel Selise Akhmelere and Sentinel locum tenens Delthrin Dhacrylon. They explain that they are from Abjura Dolana and that the party should keep their distance from the Fallen Star, this is very much above their pay-grade and not something laypersons should mess around with.
Our friends disagree, of course, and before an argument can start, there's more noise and someone arrives on the back of a black horse. He jumps off with some panache and the party now sees that it's Velkor Oberlee. He greets the party warmly but the two Abjura Dolana mages are icily cold towards him, it is clear they have some history.
Clearly they are all here for the same thing and soon enough they are all rushing to get in there. The mages float up to the top of the Fallen Star and Velkor disappears around a corner, leaving our friends to investigate the nearby door where Ranna is still busy with the rocky surface. They don't find a way to open the door and Regius charging it with his maul doesn't budge the door at all. But when he casts a light spell on it, it slowly opens up. And so the party enters the Fallen Star.
Kasarians
When they get back outside they see they are not alone; a group of eight people has arrived, they are standing around Ranna, interrogating her. There are multiple tieflings among the group and one hulking figure, even larger than a half-orc, wearing a voluminous, hooded robe. The Abjura Dolana mages have made their way outside as well and they seem to know these new people. Selise fires the first shots: “Did Cerenna finally let you off the leash, Irlon?” she says to a tiefling man with small horns that run up his ocher colored face on either side.
It soon becomes clear that these people are from the Kasarian Embassy and they want whatever the party and the two mages found inside the Fallen Star. Clearly that's not going to happen and soon words and insults are flung in both directions, the conversation even turning to a language none of our friends speak.
Things get quite tense and combat seems imminent. Irlon takes out a small black lens, and manipulates it, trying to make it do something. It's clearly a magical item of some sort but it doesn't seem to work, the tiefling curses rather colorfully. It also dampens his spirit combat-wise and in the end he motions for his people to follow him to the Fallen Star and they enter it through the door that the party used.
"Well, that could have gone worse," Selise says out loud and then turns to the party. She asks them to hand the orb over to her but already knows the answer and she's not like the Kasarians, she's not going to take it from them by force. They talk a little more and realize Velkor is nowhere to be found, and neither is his horse. They then all decide to return to town, except for Ranna who marches to the beat of her own drum, and Calliope who decides to try her luck elsewhere.
Korint, Ill-advised Burglary
Back in town they go see Vardan Brekker who is elated when they bring him the orb. He thanks them profusely and gives each of them a healing potion for their effort. He tells Hanur that he will make a magic item for the monk, he should come by in a few days to pick it up.
The next morning Hanur tells the others that he had a dream about items in the vault of the Kasarian Embassy here in town that do not belong to them and that there are two people who want to liberate them. The monk knows where to find these people and Arosin and Regius agree to help.
As the are leaving they see a somewhat familiar face in the street; one of the guards from The Dig. He introduces himself as Reb and is happy to see them as he has a lot of questions about what happened and why all those people died. The party is happy to tell him what they know, which isn't super much. Hanur also invites the fighter along on their current caper as there might be a tangential connection to the events at the Dig.
Together they go to an alley where they are soon joined by first a man who introduces himself as Julian, and then a woman who gives her names as Wanda. The party actually recognizes her; she's a member of the Companions and lives in the HQ they have been staying at. She has changed out of the customary clothes however. Together they decide to have a look at the Kasarian Embassy in Korint.
The party meets up after their heist and come to realize that staying in town isn't wise, considering the enemies they just made. Hanur wants to see Vardan Brekker before they leave, and surprisingly he is waiting at the church doors, and seems to already know what they did. The priest tells them how stupid it was what they did and that they should flee the country; the Kasarians have a lot of sway and power, they won't let this go unanswered. Before they leave, Vardan hands Hanur the Gloves of Destiny, the high cleric's first magic item.
Sormark
By staying off the main roads the party makes it to the border town of Aslu, entering Sormark. Here they could take a boat to Stjordvik but as they make their way to the docks they notice certain individuals standing around who are clearly on the lookout; bounty hunters! It would not be surprising if those were hired by the Kasarians.
A new plan is hatched; they can travel through the interior to Jurva and then continue their journey from there. This is also when they realize they have the deed to the village of Hollenvik which they found under Vresto Mansion. That's not all that far from Jurva so they decide to have a look there.
Arosin pays the required 7.5 gold pieces to an Abjura Dolana representative for a spellcasting license. They start their travels and come to the town of Bjarnheim which has a single inn; the Gilded Lamb. Unfortunately they also had no harvest at all and there is quite a food shortage. They decided to just eat their rations and not add to the problem.
The next few days Reb is adept at hunting some animals to keep them well fed. The party comes to a fissure in the earth where the bridge has been destroyed, how exactly they can't be sure of. Eventually they decide to just travel south and find another road. That evening they are attacked by four cockatrices coming from a small copse. Fortunately they manage to defeat them without any real problems, Arosin even throttling one.
Another few days into their journey they come across a camp just before dusk. It's a very simple affair, clearly not meant for permanent habitation. The people there are all humans and they are quite friendly, but their speech is quite archaic and it it's hard to have a deep conversation due to that. Still, the party is invited to spend the night and join their dinner. The food is very nice and they try a little about this Gunvor clan. They are assigned a yurt type building/tent to spend the night. In the morning sunlight wakes them and they find there's nothing there, they are laying in the prairie, there's no sign of the camp or even tracks.
Our friends continue on and come to some hills where a very strange sight greets their eyes; a large ship lays there between two hills. They decide to investigate and find out it's called the Brazen Coke Remit. After their adventures on the ship they continue on and eventually reach the capital of Namverg; Jurva, after being chased by a pack of wolves.
Scoby Dough
The party look for a nice inn and find the Half-full Flagon, which looks to suit them. But before they can even enter the building they are buttonholed by two figures, a very thin half-elf with long, blond hair and a dwarf with a neat black beard. These gentlemen ask our friends if they are interested in buying some glow ice. No? How about some sannish? The party tells them they aren't interested and go into the inn, which they learn is run by a Companion member.
The place is cozy and the rooms are good, even more important after so many days in the wilds; there are baths. Dinner is a choice of head cheese, chamot, double Jurvan sausage, or Sernas Back. The food is good and there's a band playing in the corner of the taproom. In the evening one of the topics of conversation between those assembled is Ancev, a name the party heard mention in Bjarnheim as well. Apparently this is a new god who has appeared just recently and is gaining followers quickly. It makes the party immediately think of Istus. Regius, of course, tells everyone that the best god is Ulaa.
The next morning, as they are leaving the inn they are accosted by some shady individuals. They ask if the party are the newly arrived adventurers and then explain that they are willing to pay ten gold pieces per person for the party to get rid of some people who are growing drugs not too far out of town. They don't need to be killed, just removed so they can take over.
Our friends are not willing to accept this task but do want to check out these other people and see if they are good people who need to be warned of impending violence. When they reach the plot of land they are immediately halted by a yokel with a large crossbow and it soon becomes evident that these people are not very different from the ones that want them gone. The party decides to return to town and not get involved.
When they are back in town and walking down Eino Street, they pass by a bakery; Mifora’s Finest. And at that moment an old halfling in a baker's outfit steps outside and starts to lament that his sourdough starter has gone missing. The party offers their help to the distraught baker and he invites them inside. He takes them down to the basement and shows them the cabinet and the place on the shelf where the jar with Scoby, as he lovingly calls the starter dough, should be.
When asked about anyone who would do something like this, Milo can't really imagine anyone but when pressed, he says that his competitors in the Buel Vitta Society competition aren't happy with him as he won the last five years running and most other years. He names two, Svafnir and Throa, but he does say he can't imagine either of them would stoop this low. It later also turns out neither of them live in town.
Our friends start by taking an inventory of people who are or have been on the premises today. Beyond the baker, there's his apprentice, Gothorm, and the shop assistant, a girl by the name of Merial. The baker's name they learn is Milo Lothran, and his wife helps out in the morning but she has gone home by now.
They start by talking to Gothorm, who is a rather surly young man. They get the impression he isn't all that happy with his job but it apparently he is paid well and there is little to complain. Gothorm claims not to know anything about the theft and our friends think he is telling the truth. And he does have something worthwhile to contribute; there was a flour delivery in the morning and the person delivering it wasn't the usual guy, Alrek. Instead it was a middle aged man with a good head of hair.
They talk to Merial next but she can't contribute much, she has only been here since lunch so she didn't see the delivery man. She does tell them what a wonderful man Milo is and what a genius he is. She is very sad something like that happened to him but she is sure he will bounce back from this and come up with some new, wonderful breads.
Next they decide to find out about the delivery man and they go to Bowman-Outersea Cereals & Commodities which is where the bakery gets its flour from. When they get there they ask to see if a delivery was actually made and then ask after Alrek. The person at the front office points to a man in his twenties, who, when seeing the party and him being pointed out, immediately runs away.
It takes quite the chase to bring down this suspect but with some quick thinking and an even quicker monk, Hanur eventually takes him down as he flees into Nethen Tailors. They decide to bring him to the House of Harmony, the local temple of Ulaa, where Regius arranges for a room they can question him in.
The man is quite scared; the party can be quite intimidating. He quickly confesses that a man paid him quite generously to deliver the flour to Minora's Finest instead of him. But he tells them that he had nothing to do with whatever happened next; it turns out he is afraid the flour was poisoned or something like that. Still, Regius berates him and asks him if he thought about what will happen to everyone at the bakery if it has to close due to the theft.
Alrek is quite contrite and helps as best he can; the man was of middling age with brown eyes and great hair. And such an amazing voice, "like butter". He even remembers that he had a scar on the back of his right hand, somewhat in the shape of an 'L'. Seeing the man is truly sorry, Regius tries to get him a job at the temple as a way to absolve his sins. The priest has a hard time convincing his fellow clergy but they do agree to take Alrek.
The party then decides to check all bakeries in town to see if anyone matching the description works there, figuring a competitor might be behind the theft. Arosin and Reb take the east part of town and Hanur and Regius take the west part. The bard and fighter go in with a story about recent thefts and give the description of the man, asking if they know anyone like that.
At the second bakery they hit pay dirt. It turns out that this person has nothing to do with bakeries but the shop assistant is quite sure this person must be Vensel Bruun, a former lawyer who now is a worshiper of this new god; Ancev. They don't know where he can be found but they are sure this is who they are looking for. Since they have no way of contacting the others, the two party members go back to the inn to wait for the others.
Hanur and Regius have a very different approach; they also tell of a theft but ask to talk to everyone of the staff, supposedly to ask if they saw anything suspicious but really just to look if anyone matches the description. At the very last bakery they hit pay dirt as well, or so it seems. One of the bakers there, a man by the name of Chansobal, seems to fit quite well. He also has a good head of hair, a beautiful voice, and on the back of his right hand there is a scar that kinda looks like an inverted 'L'.
The color of his skin and his accent show that Chansobal isn't from around these parts and Regius goes in hard, accusing him of the theft. The man tells them that he has been here all day, but unfortunately he only started work at nine, and the theft happened before then, so he has no real alibi to speak of. In the end they take him to the temple and show him to Alrek, who tells them that this is definitely not the man who bribed him. Regius apologizes red cheeked and gives him five silver pieces to try and smooth things over.
Back at the inn, the party meets up and then try and learn more about this Vensel Bruun and Ancev. They don't even need to leave the inn to learn that someone is holding services for Ancev at the Poised Picks Pub, raising funds for a new temple, which are well attended. They go there and learn that it is, in fact, Vensel Bruun who is leading these services.
It's past dinner time now and they go to his house; they find he lives in a small apartment. They go to him and have themselves invited inside, posing as people interested in learning more about the new god. Then they confront him with the theft and he immediately confirms that he stole Scoby. But he asks them to listen to what he has to say. He explains that Milo's wife, Melba, is becoming quite distraught over the fact that the baker keeps promising to finally retire but then every year he decides to work "one more year".
So they came up with this rather desperate last move. Melba knows how much Scoby means to her husband and she figured that should it go missing, he might finally want to give up and retire. She told Vensel where to find the jar and he then paid off Alrek and took the starter dough when he brought in the bags of flour. He tells them that he then went for a walk in the forest and left it there.
The party isn't quite sure what to do now, as it turns out things aren't as simple as they seemed at first. They decide to collect Scoby in the morning, as it's dark now, and also talk with Melba before deciding on their next steps. Reb stays with Vensel for a while longer as the fighter wants to learn more about Ancev.
The next morning Arosin goes to talk with Melba and the other three are going to look for Scoby in the forest. When the bard arrives at the bakery it is quite busy and the baker's wife explains she has no time to talk right now. When Arosin mentions Vensel, she tells him she can talk at lunch time. The others follow the priest's directions and soon find the discarded starter dough.
However, things have taken a rather strange turn. The jar is broken and a large, glowing mycelial web has grown between the trees and bushes. Its tendrils connect to the many mushrooms and lichen that can be found around. As our friends stand there, marveling at what they see, a puff of spores shoots out from the web. Reb quickly steps back but the monk and cleric get hit right in the face. They are unable to resist its effect, and that's probably a good thing as they can now hear a voice in their heads.
The creature, or whatever it is, introduces itself as Usnea. It can seemingly read their minds for it confirms that it used be Scoby but something happened that made it evolve into a sentient entity. It named itself Usnea and is now quite curious about the world it finds itself in. In due course it explains that it could cut off a part of itself which can then merge with the brain of someone, so it can explore the world together. It promises that this person would still retain their own personality and all faculties, Usnea would mostly be a passenger though they could talk and it might be able to help in some ways.
When asked if any of them would be willing, Hanur immediately agrees. Usnea ask the monk to step forward and receive them. Reb sees this and since he couldn't hear anything of the conversation he steps in and tries to pull Hanur back. Another puff of spores makes it so that the fighter can now be talked to as well, and after Hanur confirms he is doing this of his own free will, the fighter steps back.
A tendril moves and slowly enters Hanur's ear, more and more of it goes in until it snaps. It is quite a painful process but the monk survives and now there is another entity in his brains who can talk to him at any time. The other two really don't know what to make of it but it's done so they might as well return to town. They take the broken jar, so they have something to show Milo.
At lunch time all four of them go see Melba and tell her Scoby is gone, though they don't give any further details. She tells them that she wants to come clean and tell her husband everything. Our friends all have their own perspective on this, some thinking this is the way to go, others counseling never telling her husband anything. But she is convinced that it would be too painful for her husband to go on not knowing. The party has also been thinking about one of the reasons Milo is having a hard time stopping; there's no one to continue the bakery, and Regius suggests that maybe Chansobal might be interested, even though they have no idea if he is any good at his job.
Eventually they decide that they will go tell Milo that Scoby is gone and then later Melba will explain to her husband what happened. So they go back to the bakery where they tell him the bad news. He doesn't take it all too well, even though he already assumed the worst. But there's little else he can do and he thanks our friends for all they have done for him, paying them six gold pieces each and telling them any of the baked goods in the shop are on the house. Reb asks about his prize winning creations and Milo tells him that he doesn't normally have those for sale but if he wants, he can make some for them tomorrow. They all think this a good plan and promise to return tomorrow.
And so they do, around lunch time. Melba has told her husband the entire story and he has forgiven her, promising to really retire this time. The party introduces Milo to Chansobal, and they seem to hit it off and the old baker seems taken with the idea of training him as his successor. They then enjoy the cakes and tarts that the halfling prepared and they are the best things they have ever put into their mouths.
Hollenvik
Once everything in Jurva is taken care of our friends get on the road again; destination Hollenvik in the barony of Udvjor. They have the deed to the village and want to see the place. The journey there is not too long or dangerous and soon enough they arrive.
Udvjor Gardyl / Ipanema / Portal Hub
Our friends decide that Arosin, as the new Thane, and Hanur will remain in Hollenvik to look after everything while Regius, Reb, Harpin, and Cassandra go to try and find the gardyl.
The foothills of the Giant's Crown Mountains are no joke but fortunately our friends have some wilderness skill and they manage to avoid all the tribes living there.
If it wasn't for Ida's map they wouldn't have found it, but after about a week they discover the location, and enter the Udvjor Gardyl.
The party's time there is brief and soon they find themselves in Ipanema.
From there they end up in the Portal Hub.
Stjordvik
Harpin and Regius arrive in what looks to be a throne room of a castle. The two guards present there are quite startled to see two people appear out of nothing but quickly draw weapons and tell the new arrivals to stand down. More guards are called for and after a while someone else arrives who introduces himself as Nicodemus, seneschal of Fort Gunnlaeif. So it turns out they are in the unofficial capital of Sormark now. At that moment Cassandra and Reb arrive, causing some more consternation.
More guards are summoned and the party is disarmed, then a bear of a man with a droopy black mustache arrives. He's dressed rather casually with a half open shirt that shows a lot of chest hair. He hops onto the throne and sits on it sideways. "So, who has invaded my throne room? Is this the worst assassination attempt in history?" he asks aloud. "I am trying to find out, your excellency, but it does look unlikely," Nicodemus answers.
Not much later another man arrives, he is tall, grave, has a short, well-kempt beard, dresses rather old-fashioned and carries a staff. "Ah, Ildool, there you are, these people just magically appeared inside my throne room, what am I paying you people for?" says the baron. "I came immediately, your excellency, I am as curious as you and I promise you to get to the bottom of it and make sure it won't happen again," the man replies, who introduces himself to the party as Ildool Illeon, magister of Abjura Dolana.
He casts a Zone of Truth spell and starts to question our friends, his interest is clearly in how the party got inside, neither he nor the baron ask much about Ipanema or the Udvjor Gardyl. The baron has already had his men sheathe their weapons and now he orders food for his unexpected guests. And for himself, he devours a full tray of buns filled with crayfish fried in butter with herbs.
After the questioning, Ildool casts some spells to find out more about the portal through which the party arrived, promising the baron to return the next day for a more exhaustive study. Then he, Nicodemus, and the baron discuss some things in earshot of the party. Nicodemus suggests that the party might be useful for 'that thing that needs doing soon', and the baron agrees. He licks his fingers, belches loudly and hops off the throne and approaches the party. "In lieu of any prison sentence or fine, I hereby sentence you to do some work for me in the near future, don't leave town and all that," he tells them and then instructs Nicodemus to take care of the details before leaving the room.
The party asks for a recommendation where to stay in town and the seneschal suggest the Placeholder Inn. He accompanies them to the fort's entrance, on their way there it becomes obvious that the throne room and inner sanctum are very old and the rest of the fort much newer, maybe only a few centuries old. He sends a guard with them to bring them to the inn and explains that they will be in touch in a few days.
Training Montage
Cassandra mentions that she has heard of the art gallery in town and suggests they visit, so they set of of Norbana's. Afterwards, our friends go and try to find some information on people who can help them get better at what they do. They have all learned much on their adventures and now they want to focus on specific talents to improve, something that goes a lot quicker when you have someone to teach you the finer points. So it's time to tavern hop and ask around.
Harpin
The name Blunt Abalone keeps being mentioned and the gnome finally tracks him down in one of the many taprooms in town. He's a human man, probably early twenties, attractive, and has a round face and long brown hair. When Harpin explains what he is looking for, the man tells hims: "acting on stage is for mooks; people come to be deceived, no, it’s the real world where the greatest acting is done. Dressing the part is easy, convincing people you are who you pretend to be, that’s the real skill. He's willing to help out, but it's going to cost 50 gp, up front. Our friend manages to negotiate it to half up front and is then told by Blunt that he has no time right now but probably will in a few days, warning the gnome that it is going to be a very intense week of practice, not to be underestimated.
Regius
Zilgim Zebbleck is the only name mentioned when the cleric asks around, and his mark is easy to find, he always hangs out at the same tavern. It turns out that who he is looking for is a tiny, old gnome with few hairs left but sporting a razor sharp pencil mustache. Most striking is that Zilgim has one amber eye and one purple eye. He sits at a booth at the back of the place, playing with a large silver coin. The gnome asks some questions and then let's Regius know that he can help him, if the priest and the rest of the party will do something for him in return, he doesn't have anything specific in mind, but in his line of work, something suiting an adventuring party comes along often enough.
They go outside and Zilgim tells Regius to give him a ride. The half-orc puts the very small gnome on his shoulders and is then directed to walk into a certain direction. The gnome produces a small switch from his sleeve and spurs the cleric on, "move faster, boyo!" and they proceed to the Harbor District. At the docks Regius is instructed to count the number of crates being unloaded from a ship and at the same time watch a crate full of fish and see if he can predict when the local seagulls and cats will try to swipe one. The cleric is quite observant and notices that a cat's tail stops moving before it dashes in for a fish. He also manages to count all the crates accurately. They then leave and Zilgim hands note to someone nearby.
Their next destination is a large market in the Forum District. They go to Bayliss Maps & More and at the backdoor the gnome pays someone, allowing them access to third floor, which is filled with shelves of maps. But what Zilgim is interested in is the windows that give them a good view of the market. The gnome explains Regius is to look for pickpockets, and is told how they work, how there is a lifter, a bagger, and a runner. After two hours they have identified two teams and as they get ready to leave, the priests notices Zilgim signing to someone below. When asked about this, the gnome explains that it's all part of the job. When Regius looks down the person is gone.
Then they go to the Miforan District and enter a tavern; the Cranky Kraken. They sit at the bar and Zilgim teaches the half-orc how read lips. After a few hours two people enter the establisment, a thin-lipped half-elven woman in tight clothes and a human woman with green eyes and a cheek piercing, they sit down at a table. Then Zilgim takes Regius to a table, sets him down and tells him to try to read the human woman’s lips and remember as much as possible, he then moves to a different table where he has a good angle at the half-elf.
The cleric is able to make out the following: “It’s not as you said, they have more security.” “Maybe, I guess it’s possible.” “Sure, but I’ll need more people, and that’ll cost you more.” “That’s reasonable but I want another ten on delivery.” “They’re dumb fucks, don’t worry about that, I have it under control.” “Sure, we can do that, I’ll go get,” the woman sneezes and wipes her nose on her sleeve, the rest of sentence can’t be seen as her face is blocked from view. When the two women leave, Zilgim comes back to Regius but unfortunately he hasn't managed to remember much of the conversation. The disappointed gnome tells him to come back the next day, they'll have to do about a week of this before his training will be done.
Reb
When asking around about strength training, Sulla Arena gets mentioned but even more often the name Satu Sargred. She can be found at the docks and once the fighter gets to the correct pier he sees a large crate floating down it. But then it becomes clear there are some boots behind the crate and eventually an entire dwarf comes into view, carrying the crate thanks to some custom made metal ‘claws’. She doesn't look like your average dwarf, at all, she is blonde with a tan and freckles, her arms are like tree trunks.
When asked about training she tells Reb to come by her home after her shift ends, it's on the outskirts of town. She looks at our friend critically and then says, "you might be an ass man, maybe, we'll see." The fighter doesn't know what to say to that but he does go to her place in the afternoon. To get there he has to go through the slums but her place is quite nice, a small hobby farm type of affair, with many different animals roaming the yard. Satu is sitting on the porch, drinking something.
To start the training she has the fighter take off his armor so she can see what they are dealing with. She also finally mentions her fee; ten gold pieces. But she suggests that should Reb be interested in doing a certain activity where you do a lot of intimate push up, she's willing to give him the friends and family discount of five gold pieces. Reb pays the full amount. After another critical once over the dwarf decides that the ass might be a bit too much to start out with, they'll go for the goat first. She attaches a rope to a goat's collar and tells the fighter to try and pull the animal close.
It seems the animals are used to this and this specimen is more than a match for our friend at his first few tries. Still, they continue on and Satu gives the fighter some dietary and exercise advice that will help him along. A week or so of afternoon visits should see him well on his way.
Cassandra
Many names are mentioned but one probably edges out all the others; Durana. She is the chief of security at The Pearl, the famous brothel in town. The cleric decides to check it out and finds the huge building easily. A stunning duo, a man and woman dressed alike stand at the entrance to welcome visitors and take any weapons. Inside there are large rooms filled with customers and courtesans, all have ribbons of different colors tied around their arms. A heady scent from the exotic flowers in the indoor garden wafts in, soft music is being played, there are stairs to the upper floors, and an empty suit of armor floats in a corner of the room.
Durana turns out to be a slight and very pretty half-elf with bronze skin and silver eyes. She is willing to teach the priestess some things but is not interested in money. She suggests that in return Cassandra, and her friends, might do some work for the Pearl, not at courtesans, of course. With that out of the way she suggests the cleric accompanies her as she goes about her business tonight, observing the customers, and she'll point out some things, which will hopefully be helpful.
In due course, Durana points out two men who are both very enamored with the same girl who is drinking with a third man. When that man leaves the other two make for the girl but a micro expression shows that one of them, a merchant type, is looking to trip the other. Durana slips through the crowd like quicksilver and intercepts the man just before he reaches his target and takes his arm, moving it behind his back. “Violence of any kind towards other guests is not permitted here, would sir like to leave for the night or maybe find another courtesan, I think we have one sir would like.” She the takes him to the opposite side of the building where there is a girl who doesn't look much like the first, different hair, different body type, etc., but he is immediately smitten with her. She explains to Cassandra: “he kept looking at Sendira’s hands and mouth, so it seemed that Nismet would be a good match for him as well.”
The night continues like this and after dawn a security guard comes up to Durana and whispers in her ear. All three go up to the third floor and find a young man in breastplate sitting in front of a door in the corridor. His tabard shows him to be of the Order of Saint Rabban, and the guard explains he followed a girl up to this room when she came in for her shift. Durana asks Cassandra to take care of this; remove the man without any violence or pissing off the Order, she then leaves to tend to all her other tasks.
In talking with the boy, the priestess learns he is Nander Yarryn, a newly minted Untested (the lowest rank in the order). He was standing vigil when he got a vision from none other than Saint Rabban himself! He was to seek out the Marvelous Maiden of the Misted Morning and as he left the church he saw her walking their in the morning fog. He followed her here and is now standing vigil for her and won't leave.
Cassandra argues that he should inform his superiors of this vision and Nander turns it around, agreeing but asking the cleric to inform them in his stead. He's not willing to budge and the priestess gives up and tries a Suggestion spell which he unfortunately resists. She confers with the guard who remained and learns that the girl is no longer in the room, but telling the boy that, will likely have him go search all over the place, maybe it's best to indeed go talk to his superiors?
The cleric sets off for the Bright Hold and is soon brought to High-Inquisitor Myrnd Mournsoul's office. He is happy to learn that his awol Untested has been found, but quite surprised at the location and reason why. He sends a few paladins along with Cassandra and they eventually manage to order the young Untested to come back with them. Durana compliments Cassandra on a job well done and promises to teach her more over the days to come.
Dungeon Design 999
Two days after their arrival, a guard comes to the inn to bring them back to Fort Gunnlaeif. Back in the throne room they find the baron, the seneschal, the magister, and someone new; a cleric of some kind who is introduced as Cardinal Assessor Stor Nuren. It is explained to our friends that he is here so they can be sworn in as húskarls; soldiers in the baron's employ. This is so that they will be bound not to divulge anything they do in service to the baron. After their job is done they can be released again, they won't have to be in service any longer than that.
Not everyone is very enthused about this with Cassandra even suggesting that the baron is involved in crimes against humanity she doesn't want to cover up. There is some back and forth but eventually everyone is sworn in, though Regius crosses his fingers behind his back. The cardinal leaves and Ildool opens a small stone box and takes from it an ancient looking wand made of two intertwining branches of yew. He hands it to Harpin and tasks him to keep it safe.
They then walk even deeper into the castle as the magister explains their task. There is a dungeon of sorts underneath the fort but not a typical one; the rooms keep rearranging themselves over time. so finding anything is a challenge. This is where the wand comes in, it points the way to their destination; an altar in one of the rooms. Any time the wand is used it will show which direction they should take. And once they are at the altar, Harpin should use its other function; some kind of binding spell, it's not one he is familiar with.
The magister warns them that while many traps have been disabled over the years, there might still be active ones, and there are quite likely still monsters about too. The party has many questions and there are not as many answers as they would like but this comes with the job. Eventually they arrive at the deepest part of the keep where a wooden elevator platform has been constructed. Two sergeants stand watch and our friends are told that on the party's return they should reply with the code word 'Miller', but if anything is wrong, they should use the code word 'Walker' instead. With that out of the way, they are lowered into the Fort Gunnlaeif Dungeon.
Once back out they are escorted to the office of Nicodemus, the seneschal. He is happy to hear they were successful and takes the wand from Harpin. Our friends have some questions though and he tries to answer them as best he can. Yes, he knew about Tizoc, though Nicodemus himself has never been down there. He can confirm that this has been going on a long time but won't go into details about what kind of defenses he powers.
He asks if the our friends want to remain húskarls; they won't have to do anymore work and won't get paid, but the title might open some doors around town. Harpin and Reb decide they want to keep the title, whereas Cassandra and Regius want no kind of fealty to the baron. The party goes back to the inn and learns of the latest news; the Harbor Master, Trygve Nesheim, was assassinated, some claim by the Caluth Widows. His replacement has already been found: Lena Hjelle.
New Friends and Old
Harpin goes to Blunt Abalone to complete his studies and is given something Blunt calls full immersion training, others might call it being thrown to the wolves. Either way, it means Harpin will be gone for about a week. The others take their time to recover from their recent tribulations and enjoy what the town has to offer. Cassandra has reconnected with some old friends she met at the Pearl and is also not available.
A few days later two people show up at the inn, looking for our friends. Reb and Regius meet with them. There's Jack O’Shea, a halfling sailor with an eye patch and a bandana who reeks of salt water and has a Miforan accent. He wants to hire them for a quick job, and he has brought along with him some muscle he hired already; a tall half-orc barbarian called Butch. The axes he carries resemble a huge cleaver and chopping knives, he explains he is a pretty good chef. Regius can't help but challenge a fellow half-orc to arm wrestle. They seem to be well matched at first but then Butch pushes so hard that the cleric's hand hits the table with enough force to break it!
Harbor, Mastered & Wheel, Profited
The job entails breaking into the Harbor Master's office to find some kind of evidence and pays 10 gp per person, it needs to be done tonight. Our friends agree and meet the two in the Harbor District at one o'clock at night. Most towns would be pretty quiet at this hour but not so the Cool Cove; the partying goes on pretty much all night here. Hopefully the sound from the grog-houses will give them some cover.
The Harbor Master's office is at the top floor of a square building that holds all kinds of supplies, stairs run around the outside of the building. Jack manages to pick the lock without breaking a sweat and once inside asks everyone to help find anything suspicious. They have only just started searching when suddenly they are bathed in utter darkness and there are slithering and hissing noises all around them.
Though they can't see them, they are being attacked by venomous ice snakes! Jack seems to be near the majority of them and gets attacked and poisoned twice. Regius comes up with a rather novel way to get rid of an enemy and the darkness. He rushes towards a snake, grabs it and then jumps out of the window with it. Both fall three floors down, the cleric surviving the ordeal, the serpent doesn't.
The snakes have a much easier time attacking in darkness but still the party comes out on top. Regius climbs back up and soon the darkness spell runs out, allowing everyone to see the havoc caused. The cleric casts a healing spell and the others go back to searching with Jack soon finding what they came for. A Fog Cloud spell by Regius covers there retreat as people have come in investigate the strange noises.
Once they are all safely back at the inn, Jack reveals he was actually Harpin all along! This was his final exam; fooling those who know him best into thinking he was someone else. After a good night's sleep the gnome delivers what he found to Blunt Abalone and the party gets paid for a job well done.
The next few days the party enjoys themselves again, with Butch now also tagging along. They do some shopping and research Fort Gunnlaeif. Regius suggest the House of Many Hands, the local temple of Ulaa. There they manage to buy smith's tools and a book on forge work for Reb. Harpin finds a book on Arcana he likes. Regius manages to talk the priest on duty into extending a discount to his friends, they even get to use the library for free.
Their research uncovers the following things: The current fort was built by the Miforans when they conquered Sormark. It was partly destroyed and rebuilt when they left. It was built atop ancient ruins that were considered cursed by the locals. A number of Miforan mages and local workmen died during construction. The previous fort fell to ruin during the Collapse. They also find Uyots mentioned in connection to the ancient fort. It is described as a god of fatalism and war.
One evening they decide to visit the Gassy Gnoll tavern. They've heard about the Wheel of Death which can be found here; a large disc which can be spun with a thousand different outcomes. Higher results return your inlay multiple times but there are also other prizes to be won.
Reb isn't the gambling kind but the others give it a go. Butch loses 68 gold pieces, which is exactly how much Harpin wins. They do also win a few small prizes; a free drink, a snack, that kind of thing. But Regius goes all out, winning big first, putting in quite the amounts. He then loses but can't help but go one more time, putting in no less than 200 gp!
Ulaa must have blessed her cleric as the wheel comes to a stop just one space from the grand prize! The announcer goes crazy and the half-orc gets his inlay back four-fold! His total winnings that evening are 443 gp. Not only that, he is also showered in smaller prizes; twenty-five discount vouchers* for Caeles Emporium, ten tickets for the play currently staged at Relatus Playhouse, two 50% discount vouchers for The Pearl, two free entry tickets for the Sormark Sweats bath house, a large rosette with the text “I was so,so close to winning the Wheel of Death Grand Prize at the Gassy Gnoll tavern!”, and last, but not least, a card that let's him get the first drink free, for a week, at all taverns owned by the same group that owns this tavern.
*5% discount up to a max spend of 50 gp, multiple tickets can't be combined for one purchase.
Escorting the Escort & Pilfering Palaver
Cassandra returns to the inn and explains that the cards have shown that her path lays in a different direction than the party's. She does have a small request as she is leaving; could they help out at the Pearl? There's a simple job that needs doing, they should go and talk to Durana, the chief of security.
Our friends do so and learn that they are to escort Mairuu Thiodor to a hunting lodge outside of town. Normally speaking this is quite safe but Resa's Rest takes no chances with one of their most valued people. A carriage and driver are provided and Harpin joins her inside, she's a petite, raven-haired beauty and quite the conversationalist. Regius quickly buys a donkey he names Geronimo. Together they make their way to the lodge which turns out to be owned by Respen Faerondyl who runs Thal Lithel in Stjordvik.
It's quite the lodge; consisting of multiple buildings, it'd be the most expensive building in most villages. Mairuu enters the main building and a familiar voice sounds out: "Welcome back my little peach". As our friends enter the voice gets an incredulous tone; "You’ve got to be kidding me! You again?" It's no one other than the baron who is standing there.
“It’s nice to see you as well, big peach, we brought you a delicious treat," Reb quips quickly, the baron's face turning an interesting shade of red. "Get these people out of my sight," he comments to his servants as he goes deeper into the building with Mairuu. It looks like our friends will be spending the night in one of the out buildings. First Butch asks to use the kitchen and he cooks the party a servicable meal.
In the evening they ask Harpin; he mentioned that a certain Lady Caterine was the one who sent him on his travels and the cat is called Caterine, is she the lady? The gnome says this is not the case. Butch mentions he can talk to animals and ten minutes later he asks the black cat a question, the answer that comes back is not any language the half-orc understands, if indeed it is a language. He then goes outside to talk to a bird, just to check if his spell actually works; it does. The next morning they escort Mairuu back to the Pearl without any incident.
Not much later a summons from Zilgim Zebbleck arrives at the inn and he explains that he has a job for him and his friends as payment for the training he received. Apparently a really strange kind of monster has been stealing things and disappearing immediately after, in the village of Drømmen. He wants them to go there and take out the creature, he wants it D-E-D, dead.
The description Zilgim was given is that the creature has one foot and four arms ending in hands with long, spindly fingers. It appears to have two heads, one on a long stalk of a neck and another on its abdomen. He's never heard of any creature like this, and neither has Regius or any of the other party members. The stealing has been going on for a number of days so he wants the party to leave as soon as possible. They do so; after three days travel they arrive in Drømmen.
Roadside Assistance
On the second day of their journey back, our friends hear the unmistakable sounds of combat coming from just beyond the copse of trees they are traveling through. They quickly move towards the sound and come to the site of an ambush. Gnolls are attacking a caravan of Vergu orcs, once they come closer it seems there are a number of elves and a human as part of the group as well.
As the party rushes to the aid of the caravan it becomes clear the gnolls have help; a manticore flies close and flings razor sharp tail spikes at our friends. A number of the gnolls meanwhile fire arrows, making the approach quite hazardous. The party weathers the storm and manages to defeat their enemies, at about the same time as the orcs and elves take care of theirs.
It hasn't been easy; quite a few people lay bleeding to death on the road. Fortunately our friends are just quick enough to stabilize all of them. A healing spell by Regius then manages to get them back on their feet. Thanks are exchanged and introductions made. Kesk Horthor is the leader of the orcs; they are on their way with wagons full of weapons and armor to sell in Stjordvik.
In Resoborg they took on some extra passengers as it's always safer to travel in numbers. There are three elves; Salyndra & Lysanthir Ealoeth, twins, which is exceedingly rare in elves, and, Liora Elander. They are auditors for Thal Sivale, on their way to the Cool Cove to go over the books. The sole human is Adrian Hartley, who turns out to be an old friend of Reb's.
Our friends are asked to join the caravan as well and together they make it to Stjordvik. They bring the wounded to the House of Many Hands and there's another reunion; Regius' old mentor, Turimm, has recently arrived here.
The town is quite busy with preparations for Buel Vitta Society's Annual Stjordvik Regatta & Ball; many colored banners hang all around, proclaiming people's allegiance to this ship or that. There's also news about the assassination of the Harbor Master; new evidence has come to light and arrests have been made.
The party goes to the Abjura Dolana lodge with the remains of the creature which they now learn is an Ethereal Filcher. It seems they are quite rare, and hard to catch! Our friends manage to negotiate a pretty good price for what they managed to save and preserve: a hundred gold pieces.
Regatta, Schmegatta
Our friends now have some time to catch up with their old friends and enjoy what the city has to offer; a trip to Caeles Emporium might be in the cards as well. But then a day or so later Harpin comes with a suggestion; he wants to enter the 15th Stjordvik Regatta. One slight problem; the registration period has closed quite a while ago. If they want to compete they'll have to look at getting in with one of the entered teams. The others aren't very keen on a sailing race though Harpin manages to convince Regius by telling the priest he will convert to Ulaa if they win.
To find out more they ask around and come across Crandan Othnull, he is a big Cove Cup fan. He tells them the following. Only twice was the title retained. Against the Grain, who have hired the best crew this year, are in a friendly competition with Bruised But Not Broken, they’ve both won three times. The Companions were the surprise winners last year, they see it mostly as a recruiting tool. The temple of Ancev is competing for the first time, they hired the winning ship from last year. Abraxis and House Ditta want to beat each other, this is more important than winning the race for them. Caeles Emporium is all about style, elegance, class and always showers the crowd with tchotchkes. The Pearl see it as good fun but play to win.
A shopping trip to Caeles Emporium is first on the agenda and it's there that Harpin runs into two old friends; Elna and Orwin Twistshield. They have a workshop in town but also sell via the Emporium. A lot of shopping is done and Regius uses his winnings (and vouchers) to pay for two splint armors and a studded leather armor. With the Regatta Ball in mind they also buy some very nice clothes, they don't want to stick out like a sore thumb. Harpin buys a dragon-chess set, making Reb promise him he'll teach him.
The next day the fighter is approached at the inn by a rather non-descript middle-aged lady. She introduces herself as Louise Rivet, cultural attaché of the Ogren embassy, but she explains that in reality she's part of the Deuxième Bureau de l'État-major général. There's a job she needs doing and she wonders if the party might be interested. She warns that the work is less than legal and involves taking something from the premises of a rather powerful mercantile organization. Reb tells her that might not be up the party's alley and she gives him a day to think it over.
Then set about seeing how they might actually get on one of the participating ships, not only that; Harpin tells him he wants to be in control of the ship, his book has told him this is how it is to be. Their first port of call is The Pearl, thinking that they did some work for them already so they have a relationship. Our friends have a talk with the manager, Torleth Finival, but it doesn't go as hoped. He explains he already has a waiting list for crew, lots of his employees seem to enjoy participating. To the surprise of the others, Harpin decides to try and intimate that they know some things that Torleth might not want to be public knowledge. The manager isn't phased and reveals that he knows plenty about the party as well. The others make their apologies and drag the gnome from the office.
Of the other competitors, Sulla Arena's Against the Grain looks interesting; they are said to have hired the best crew this year and being a fighting school they might not have too much baggage. As our friends near the fight school they notice ship's masts looming from it; a fake ship has been erected inside the arena for a special event the coming weeks; combats with nautical twists.
The party asks to see the Hetman, Herr Galaktik, and are told he is presently in the kitchen. As they walk in, the Hetman is hard to miss; he is taller and wider than any human they have ever seen. "It’s in the cellar; head down!" Herr Galaktik instructs one of the staff. He lifts a knife from the counter, "it’s not a pruner," he barks and lifts another, "this is a pruner!" He points to another counter and tells a staff member: "get to the choppa!" And the woman quickly starts chopping up vegetables.
"Come with me if you want to talk," Herr Galaktik tells the party when approached. "I’ll be back!" he tells the kitchen staff as he brings them to his office. Our friends make a case as to why they should be on board of the Float Club instead of four of his regular people. They tell him about their skills, which are certainly broader than his own personnel. He would like a demonstration and they go out to the arena where Reb squares off against Herr Galaktik's second in command. It's a pretty even contest but the Hetman is happy with what he sees and he hires them on.
That evening the weekly prize fight is held at Against the Grain and our friends decide to compete; both to see what it's like and the engender some good will with the people there. Rather surprisingly Reb is defeated in the first round, Butch and Regius in the second round, and Harpin makes it to the third round.
The next day our friends look into the team presentation which is held almost a week before the actual regatta starts. It seems it's a highly contested affair where every team tries to have the best looking ship, the best 'fight song', the most fans, etc. Harpin decides to go visit a lot of the smaller shops and try and get them to support Against the Grain. Regius will go to the temple of Ulaa and try and get supporters there.
What a Gem!
Harpin has one more thing... He needs a human fist-sized gem, a true one, like a diamond, ruby, topaz, etc. According to him Ulaa gave him a vision, telling the gnome he needs it for the ship. There aren't going to be many gems that size in town but through some asking around he found out that the merchant Lamet Attulbrae owns one and he visits, disguised as an old wizard. The merchant is unhappy anyone even knows about the gem and doesn't want to sell it. However, soon it turns out that he might be willing to part with it, if he is brought a snowglobe that is currently in possession of Brace Fowley, owner of Fowley Imports.
The party decides to check out the office building in the evening hours. From what they can tell a nightwatchman does rounds in the building. Butch gets some cheese and then uses his ability to speak with animals to bribe a rat with some cheese to go look for a snowglobe, something which he has to describe to the rodent in some detail. The barbarian then uses his other ability to look through the creature's eyes as it makes it way through the building. The rat goes through a good part of the offices but doesn't find a snowglobe.
It's not difficult to get Brace Fowley's home address and then next morning they go to his mansion, after he has left for work. They do some planning and decide to go with multiple plans, why not? Butch buys more cheese and finds another rat. But it seems he will need even more of the dairy product when the creature tells him there's cats, dogs, and other animals in the house, it's very dangerous there. Once the bribe reaches sufficient levels the brave rodent enters the mansion but soon falls prey to cat, not a pleasant experience for the half-orc who was watching along.
The other plan involves an invisible Harpin and a fast-talking Regius. The priest rings the bell and the door is opened by a butler. The plan was to get the gnome to slip inside while keeping whoever opened the door occupied. However, the butler hasn't opened the door wide enough for the warlock to get by the man. Not only that, there's only a small hall behind the front door and then there's another door, which is closed.
Regius starts spouting his regular spiel about Ulaa and tries to pull the door open further. Harpin commands his cat to run inside and it slips through the butler's legs who then turns around to deal with the feline intruder. At that point a quick Gust of Wind spell by the priest blows open the second door and Harpin manages to make it inside, avoiding the butler running into him.
At this point the servant is calling for the guards and the first to turn up is a gardener. Soon other servants show up at the front door and a city watch patrol which happened to be in earshot arrives quite quickly on the scene. The half-orc casts a Fog Cloud spell to cover his retreat and runs away with a number of watchmen in hot pursuit. All this is looked on with some amusement by Butch and Reb who are sitting on a bench on the street. It takes a good while but Regius manages to lose his pursuers and returns to the inn.
Meanwhile Harpin has had the mansion mostly for himself, with all the staff at the front door. He checks the office on the ground floor first but doesn't find a snowglobe. He tries the master bedroom upstairs next but no joy there either. He continues his search, eventually finding a locked cellar door. His skills are no match for it and he is in the cellar where there is a second locked door. Soon enough he is inside what can only be described as a sex dungeon. He takes a leather mask from it and goes back to the master bedroom. There he leaves the mask on the pillow with a note next to it: "Attulbrae knows, bring the snowglobe".
He manages to leave the place unseen and everyone returns to the inn. They inform Attulbrae that the snowglobe might be on the way and then go over their respective adventures to realize there might be a hidden room off of the study in the mansion.
An hour or so later, a messenger girl arrives at the inn with a note for Regius. It's from Brace Fowley and says to come see him at his office as soon as possible. This leads to some questions; is the merchant asking for just him or the entire party, and how did he know where to find him? Reb suggests that since he's a half-orc in full Ulaa regalia that might not be as difficult as he might imagine.
Instead of going to see the man, the cleric sends a message in return, claiming to have fallen ill and saying he'll be there tomorrow morning. That gets an immediate response where Fowley berates him, saying he can't be that ill considering he was at his house that morning, causing a ruckus. That makes the half-orc put pen to paper again: "I just remembered I am a cleric and have healing spells. I will be there shortly. P.S. Would you like anything from the bakery? It's quite good."
The entire party goes to the merchant's office and now get to see it by daylight. Regius goes up to the second floor where Fowley Imports resides with Harpin invisibly following him. The cleric is lead to Brace's office and both him and the gnome go inside. There sits the man but he is not alone; two very big bodyguards flank him and a third person, likely a spellcaster stands in the corner of the room. Meanwhile Butch and Reb have taken up position under the office's window.
"I brought scones," the half-orc tries to open the conversation but Fowley is in no mood. There's some back and forth where Regius tries to give evasive answers but the merchant is quite skilled at detecting falsehoods. His claim that he was hired by Perriwinkle Featherton, Harpin's alter-ego, is met with derision and things don't go better, Brace looks at the man in the corner and asks to cast a Zone of Truth.
At this point Fowley notices his shoelaces have been tied together, Harpin did this during the talk, and things pop off. As they discussed before Harpin summons his animal companion and has the cat attack the merchant. The spellcaster in the corner casts Faerie Fire and catches the gnome in the area, revealing him, allowing for one of the bodyguards to grab him.
The commotion is not lost on out friends downstairs and Reb drinks his potion of climbing and goes up the wall, headbutts the window and steps inside. Unfortunately for him the other bodyguard then immediately proceeds to shove him out of the window again. This man's shoelaces were also tied together so he follows the fighter and both land on the street.
Butch uses his magical cooking jar to cast the Jump spell on himself and leaps right into the office. The hired spellcaster decides to try and salvage the situation and casts Calm Emotions. This seems to do the trick, so far no one has really directly attacked anyone violently yet, if we don't count the defenestration.
Talks are resumed and now Butch tries to lead negotiations and keep Regius from talking. Fowley tells them there is no chance they can ever get the snowglobe now, though the barbarian catches the man glancing down as he says this, so why not work for him instead? He asks what Attulbrae is paying them. He doesn't have a gem of that size but suggests that if they go steal something from the merchant for him, he will pay them in gems worth the same amount and they can take the opportunity to also steal that specific gem.
Our friends are not very keen on taking this job, for various reasons. They also inquire of the man what the deal is between the two merchants but he is not willing to answer that. "Is it a sex thing?" is the remark most heard. It doesn't help when he tells them that the item he wants stolen is a miniature ear trumpet. Eventually they tell him they'll get back to him and return to the inn.
The Seafaring Captain
A message is waiting for our friends at the inn. Herr Galaktik informs them that the captain of the ship he hired wants to vet all potential crew so they are to go see her.
They find her sitting at the Blind Helmsman's heart, surrounded by raucous, roaring sailors. One enormous leather boot is up on the table; she holds a tankard of ale aloft. With her free hand, she flips a coin in the air and catches it. She's in the middle of recounting some incomprehensible Sea-story. "-chomped the gandelow 'alf 'n' 'alf, athwartships," she's saying, grinning savagely. "So I'm rubbin' the green, just me an' the flat-foot, who's down like a main tack -"
Our friends try to introduce themselves. She turns upon them with a furious glare. "Can't ye see I'm swingin' me lamp?" she demands, interrupting them. They hesitate for a moment, wondering what she could possibly mean. "Telling a story," clarifies someone, helpfully. "Shoe's on the mast, Sea William. Spin us a shant of bivvy." "She wants you to buy her a drink," clarifies the Helpful Bosun.
The party decides to buy everyone at the table a drink and make sure to get a bottle of her favorite drink for the captain. "Trifle early to go over the fore-yard, but let's call it eight bells." She leans back perilously far in her chair, swigging from the bottle they brought her. "Yer not such a bad sort, muckers. Let's 'ave a corroboree, then."
When they ask to join the crew, however, the gathered sailors hiss and mutter. The Seafarer looks them up and down. "Only taut hands on my ship," she says. "We're raggies, but ye ain't a shellback. Can ye box the compass? Can ye caulk out a storm?" "She's asking, what do you bring to the table?" says the Helpful Bosun.
Our friends try and convince her that they are worthy crew, telling her of their skills, Regius even uses a Taumaturgy spell to color the lamps inside the place a different color. The Seafarer ponders for a long time. "Tell ye what," she says finally, slamming a bottle onto the table between you. "'Fore I spill the beans, we'll face off in a Cooking Day contest, an' see who's tacker. First to turn turtle loses." "She'll answer your question if you beat her in a drinking competition," translates the Helpful Bosun.
All our friends decide to take part in this particular competition but it's only Reb who can keep up. As her crew cheers her on, the Seafarer knocks back bottle after bottle, her hands steady as a surgeon's, her eyes never leaving the fighter's. Is she human? He matches her bottle for bottle, though his throat burns and his vision blurs.
Finally, just as they're beginning to lose hope, the Seafarer topples sideways like a felled tree. She lies on the floor for some time, groaning, before conceding defeat. The party is welcomed to the Seafarer's table with a cheer. A drink is placed before them. Our friends stay for the next two hours and get to learn the captain and crew a little better, and slowly pick up some of the vernacular.
Just Out of Reach
The next morning our friends are still pondering what to do about the whole gem business when yet another message arrives; Zilgim Zebbleck would like to see them at his favorite haunt. They find the gnome at his customary booth and he tells them that a little birdie has told him they are looking for a fist-sized gem. He might be able to help them if they do a job for him.
What's the job? Well, there is a Thal Sivale warehouse in the Harbor District and inside it are a number of Restless (undead). He wants the undead destroyed. The gnome also tells them that the place is guarded by some mercenaries. The party decides that this job is a lot better suited to them and accept. Before going there Reb does some shopping and buys two pairs of manacles and a padlock.
They then find the place and it's a long building, the first one in a row of warehouses. There are large loading doors at each end, closed, and two guards stand on either side of the place. Butch has a plan and he uses his Speak with Animals ability to bribe a number of seagulls with a large amount of fish to defecate on the two guards at one of the ends of the warehouse.
This works really well and the man and woman who are the recipient of this avian bombardment rush of to presumably get cleaned up. Harpin then easily picks the lock on the regular-sized door inside the loading door and our friends are in. The place is not even half full with crates but what's immediately apparent is that someone built a sort of corral with crates stacked fifteen feet high.
Regius climbs up and sees nine zombies, though these don't look like the zombies he has seen in his travels so far; they are rather hairy and are certainly not lumbering or slow. He uses a Sacred Flame spell and misses, the second one hits and now all the zombies are coming over in his direction and all start to push up against the crates, there certainly is a chance they might push them over!
The cleric then jumps into the enclosure with them and tries to turn all the undead. This goes quite well, only three manage to resist. They do attack our friend and inflict a good amount of damage. Butch and Reb then also quickly climb up the crates and jump inside. Now things get a lot easier. These Restless are quite dangerous and hard to put down but the three of them can handle them.
Butch takes the head of one of them and Regius finely tuned senses tell him that the combat was loud enough to have alerted the remaining two guards. He takes Reb's new padlock and rushes over to the door where he hears the guards arguing over who has the key to the door. This gives him just enough time to put the padlock on and when the mercenaries outside unlock the door they find the door still won't open, which leads to more arguments.
All this gives Reb time to use his crowbar and open a few of the crates around. Most of what he finds is trade goods; flour, salt, and then cloves, which Butch is quite happy to see and he takes a good amount. The next crate is a whole different story. Inside is a lot of straw and six boxes that each hold a gorgeous ivory statuette, all about a foot tall. They all depict different elves and the craftsmanship is extraordinary.
The guards have now decided to run to the opposite doors and Regius does the same after taking the padlock from the door. He hears their surprise at not finding their colleagues there and quickly puts the padlock on the door. They use their key and find once more a door that still won't open. At this point they are convinced things are not right and kicking down the door is warranted. Regius removes the padlock and casts a Fog Cloud, allowing our friends to escape through the opposite doors.
Back at the inn they take a closer look at the statuettes. The elves depicted look a little different from how actual elves look and their style of dress is certainly not like any of them have ever seen before. They wonder if these figurines could have some religious purpose and though it's unlikely these depict any actual deities they wouldn't be surprised if they had some kind of ceremonial function.
The next morning at breakfast Regius' finely tuned senses overhear a conversation a few tables away; apparently during the night mercenaries were attacked at the Crossed Arrows Inn. He goes over to find out more and learns that two were killed in the assault and two were taken, there's been no trace of them since. Apparently the group had been doing some security work lately, could this be the people from yesterday?
Not much later a message arrives from Zilgim Zebbleck; the party is to meet him at his usually tavern, immediately. When they get there the place is still closed but a surly barkeep opens the door for them. Zilgim is at his usual place and immediately gives our friends a tongue lashing. They were sent to do a simple job, how could they mess it up so badly by stealing certain items from the place?
The party tries to interject that if the items were so important, why not secure them better? But the gnome is not having any of it. He tells them to put the items in a bag and then drop that bag into a barrel in a specific alley at the Harbor District. And the moment they've done that they better leave town for a few days, go fishing! He's not willing to hear anything more from our friends and so they leave.
Everyone but Harpin is willing to follow Zilgim's instructions to the letter; they drop the statuettes in the barrel and then leave town for a few days and do some actual fishing and hunting, Butch prepares some nice meals with his Olla and Regius 'catches' fish via Call Lightining. Before they leave, the gnome has the others write their names in his Tome of Stoyu; from now on he can write messages to them which they'll hear in his head which they can reply to and show up as text in the book.
Harpin remains behind and disguises himself every hour as he observes the alley with the barrel. Only an hour has passed when he gets a Sending from Zilgim: "What the fuck are you doing? I told you to leave town, go now or die. No need to reply". Our friend decides to move away from the barrel but his destination is the office of Lamet Attulbrae. He tells the merchant they couldn't get the snowglobe, but Fowley has a sex dungeon, maybe he could be blackmailed into giving it? Lamet explains that this is Stjordvik, most people have one.
Harpin isn't done yet, next he writes a letter to Thal Sivale, figuring since it was their warehouse, they are an elven merchant house, the statuettes were likely theirs. They met some of their people when they helped the attacked caravan, he's hoping that fact will help. The letter goes something like this:
"I want to apologize for what me and my friends did, there was a failure to communicate. We were at the warehouse to destroy zombies. Seeing how easy my companions were able to get in, security was very lacking, it was safer to take them. I hope the items were returned to your safekeeping. With regards, Harpin Falconhand. P.S. for the remainder of day and evening I will be at The Blue Candle Inn."
He waits at the inn till late in the evening but isn't approached. He then decides to go to The Pearl and use his discount coupon, spending almost the last of his money, leaving him with two gold pieces. He then returns to the Blue Candle Inn where he is suddenly grabbed off the street and bundled into a carriage.
Sitting in there is a half-elf that the warlock has never seen before. The man's message is quite clear; 'they' own him and the rest of the party now. The only reason he and his friends aren't dead is the fact the items were returned unharmed and their actions at the caravan ambush. Now, whenever the party is sent a message signed with the word "Symbaern" or whenever someone says that word to them, they are to do whatever they are instructed. The half-elf doesn't say what happens should they refuse.
Presentation, Race & Ball
The rest of the party returns to town just in time for the presentation, it's finally here: the 15th Annual Stjordvik Regatta!
As our friends disembark, the crowd's cheers somehow double in volume. A dozen corks pop from a dozen bottles of champagne. Flags are waved furiously in their faces. Innumerable excited citizens rush to shake hands and clap backs until their whole bodies aches. They spend the afternoon celebrating with the crew and competitors, eating a wonderful three-course meal at a dockside seafood restaurant. Plans are made to meet again. Toasts are drunk. Songs are sung. Their rivalry throughout the race is, needless to say, quite forgotten.
Regius can't help but talk to the House of the Awakened people and he tells them all about the King of Crustaceans and the storm. He's quite surprised to hear that they, too, were attacked by a sea monster larger than their ship; a man o' war who moved under its own power. When Regius gloats about killing the crab, the Ancev priest replies; "I'm glad you saw your opportunity and took what was yours".
Harpin promised to convert to Ulaa if they won and he keeps his word, to the delight of Regius. He priest even finds a crew-member at the restaurant who is skilled at tattoos and the half-orc gets a large tattoo of Ulaa on his back to commemorate this day. Meanwhile Harpin has been talking to the Seafaring Captain and he puts all his natural charm into suggesting they date at least for as long as she'll remain in town; she agrees.
Our friends have all their belongings returned to the inn and their fancy outfits delivered. At dusk an extravagant stagecoach rattles down the pier. It conveys them to the converted warehouse in style and comfort. The place is already full of people and the Baron calls them up to a podium erected in the middle of the vast ballroom. He's holding an impressive silver trophy, engraved on one side with a depiction of a winged yacht. It is, they are gratified to see, filled to the brim with sparkling champagne.
"At least we meet under better circumstances this time," he tells them as he shakes everyone's hand. After that everyone who's anyone in town wants to meet the newly minted Regatta winners and they are introduced to a veritable who's who of Stjordvik society. Some of their old friends are there as well.
Elna en Orwin Twistshield managed to get in somehow, Harpin decides not to ask how. They have a wooden box for the warlock; it contains the fist-sized gem, they got it back from the hull of the ship, ready to be returned to Zilgim Zebbleck. It's less surprising Adrian Hartley managed to get in and he congratulates Reb on his win. He tells the fighter that he followed the entire event while in town and apparently this has been the most exciting and close race in nearly a decade.
Reqys Laarrabisos, the forewoman at House of Many Hands is also present, of course, all church leaders are, and she has brought Turimm, Regius' old mentor. The half-orc enthusiastically tells the dwarf how he made a convert; Harpin. The old priest is impressed; "I never thought you'd convert even a single person," he let's slip after imbibing quite a few glasses.
At the end of the long evening none of our friends goes home alone, they take full advantage of their new popularity. Harpin leaves with the Seafarer, of course, he'll get to see her cabin. Reb has been talking much of the evening with the enigmatic Malu Kah, he wants to know more about Ancev, but is also not averse to seeing more of them, and so they head to Malu Kah's place. Butch has been sampling all the different foods present at the ball and manages to find a chef he wants to get to know better. Regius can't help himself and finds a high-ranking priestess from the Bright Hold, and he beds the Pholtan.
The next few days are a congratulatory whirl. A reporter from the Gazette sits them down for a bubbly interview and some bubblier champagne; they are invited to dinner parties, speaking engagements, graduation ceremonies; friends and vague acquaintances knock constantly at their door.
Our friends are invited to Against the Grain where Herr Galaktik thanks them again for all they did in bringing home the win. He has some rewards for them; healing potions and four cyphers. Regius asks if after all of this he might not want to convert to Ulaa. The hetman replies that he will, if they bring him the win again next year. Only after that the priest spots a necklace with what could very well be a symbol of Ulaa under the man's clothes.
Harpin still has the little fleck of copper in his neck and he goes and finds the best artist in town to get a tattoo of Ulaa on his neck, incorporating the sliver. Of course, as the winner of the Cove Cup, he gets to pass by the waiting list and doesn't have to pay even a copper. Butch uses the King of Crustaceans meat to gain a new power for his Olla but also cooks a meal with it that is better than anything our friends have ever had; normal crab is now ruined for them.
Regius goes to the church and with the help of the smiths there he puts a metal spike on one of the ends of his maul, so he can now do two kinds of damage with it, it's overall damage potential drops a little though. Reb tries to do some research on the dagger that he found in the Fort Gunnlaeif Dungeon but there is frustratingly little to be found. One sage tells him that it's very likely it was made in the Era of Strife. All the fighter knows is that any time he reads his Vigilant's Primer, the dagger is never far from his mind.
Seeking Jazzomyn
It's been about a week after the Regatta when Adrian Hartley comes to see Reb. He explains that a friend of his, Jazzomyn, has gone missing. She should have been back in town by now and he can't reach her. Would Reb do him a big favor and go look for her and make sure she's ok? The battle master is willing but wants more information.
Adrian explains that Jazzomyn is just a friend, Reb can't get a good read on if this is true or not. She's a half-elf, a little shorter than average, pretty, blonde hair (though she often dyes it), blue eyes. For years now she has been researching some kind of theft from the days of the Miforan Empire. And recently something pointed her to the old Imperial Way that leads from Resoborg to Mifora. She set off with two others, Ash and Talin, people Adrian never met, to look for this clue. That was weeks ago now.
Reb asks the others if they want to go look for her and together they set off on the first leg of their journey. Right before leaving town Regius sent a letter to the temple of Ancev, but telling the urchin she should say it's from Reb and for Malu Kah. It reads: “I had such a lovely time together, would you consider marrying me?” Only an hour or so out of town Malu Kah uses a Sending spell to tell the fighter about the letter and asks if it was him who sent it. When asked she uses a second spell to give him the contents of the letter.
EVERYTHING IS FINE
Our friends reach Resoborg without any problems and arrive in the afternoon. They take rooms at an inn and are sitting in the common room when a man enters. He has dark hair that is all over the place and a neatly trimmed beard. The man looks around and then comes over to their table. "You're adventurers or some such, right?" he asks. When they confirm he asks them for help; his store was broken into. Why not ask the guard? Well, they are not as quick to help and he wants help now. "Everything is fine," he keeps telling them, but please come and have a look?
He leads them to his pawnshop and it is plain to see the door was bashed in. Inside, many of his wares have been looted. "That's ok, it's all insured, everything is fine," he tells them. The backroom has also been looted. "Ahhhh, well I guess that’s not so bad, also probably insured, right?" he says, "everything is fine." But then he sees that his safe has been broken into.
"Nooooooooo!" he exclaims. What was in there? "Nothing very important, contracts, personal belongings. Would you happen to have some kind of Calm Emotions potion? The kind I get when my in-laws come to stay with us. No, everything is fine." He doesn't look it. "You need to help me get my stuff back. You can find them, right?" our friends start to investigate the scene. "So, if you find my stuff, you have to look at all of it? You can just hand it back to me, right? Everything is fine."
The party's investigation pays of results and even though they trampled the scene quite a bit they find a large boot print and a piece of reddish-orange cloth that was snagged by a proud nail. Both Butch's rat companion and Harpin's Lady Catherine try and follow the trail and against all odds succeed at it! The spoor leads to an apartment building and then to apartment 3.
Regius moves up to the door and uses a maximized Thunderwave spell to blast the door into splinters. Then, using the element of surprise rushes inside and sees a half-orc man and a halfling girl, who wears a reddish-orange top, sitting around a table full of loot. He decides to grapple the man and works him to the floor. The girl reacts and casts a Color Spray spell, blinding the priest.
But then the others storm inside and soon enough the duo surrenders. Their impromptu employer enters last and makes a bee-line for a stack of documents on the table. Harpin sees this and uses Misty Step to get there first and grabs them. "Those are mine, you can give them to me, everything is fine," he tells the warlock.
The party never asked him his name and when they do, he answers: "if anyone asks, it's Lars Gerhardt." We're asking! "Ok, it's Lars Gerhardt." The gnome rifles through the papers and sees the name in there, now handing them over to the man. Our friends want to take the two thieves, who could not deny their involvement in the theft to the town guard but Lars tells them to just leave them here and take his belongings back, "everything is fine."
And so they return to his pawnshop with a bag full of items. He tells them to put it down somewhere, he'll try and put everything back later. He thanks them for all their help, "see? Everything is fine." He grabs a number of items from a drawer and hands it to our friends; a reward for all your help, I really can't thank you enough."
Our friends return to the inn and go through what they were given, four cyphers and four trinkets. Butch takes a glass eyeball that looks about of its own accordance, and can roll around. Harpin decides on a brass orb etched with strange runes. Regius is quite intrigued by a necklace formed of the interlinked holy symbols of a dozen deities, interestingly it includes symbols of the new gods Istus and Ancev. Reb is left with a gold monocle frame without the lens.
[The above inspired by EVERYTHING IS FINE.]
Down the old Imperial Way
The next morning our friends set off for their journey and set their first steps on the old Imperial Way. It is in a reasonable state still, many centuries since it was was built as prescribed by Master Builder Sivas Prester. The weather hasn't been great and it rains most of the day. There's a light drizzle as they reach the first wayhouse.
The building itself is in reasonable condition except for the roof that has some big holes in it, which doesn't help with the rain. The stable has eight pens and rotting straw on the floor. The house's garden has seen better days. It was clearly originally intended to grow fruits and vegetables but it has been completely trashed. Much of the outer walls have fallen over, the fountain and the shrine in the middle are destroyed.
The inside of the house proper has a floor of wooden beams, setting it a little higher than everything else, which helps a lot with the rain. And maybe also with small pests; the cockroaches present soon disappear under the floorboards as our friends enter. The are only two small windows, high up on the wall but the holes in the roof offer plenty of light. Something was hung over the fireplace but it is so destroyed it's impossible to make it what it was.
The table is sort of intact, but all the chairs and benches are mostly destroyed. It seems likely that youths, from Resoborg or some nearby village, are the cause of all the vandalism. There are multiple carvings found on the walls: "K ♥ N", "Kilroy was here", "Beware of darkness", "Beware of soft shoe shufflers". That last one throws them for a loop, Regius vaguely remembers some ancient bard who might have said this?
The next morning they set off again and in the afternoon come to a large flooding, the road is totally gone and it's quite deep. They decided to go around it, through the forest. With no horses and just a donkey that's not too difficult. The rain has stopped when they reach the second wayhouse. Things look a lot better here, there are no signs of vandalism.
A startled fox jumps over the wall as they enter the garden. Blackberries grow in abundance, they can look forward to a nice dessert. The fountain and shrine are intact, the latter is dedicated to Beory. Inside they can now see a Miforan Empire coat of arms over fireplace, the roof is a lot better, and there's a table and four chairs, plenty of benches as well. Insects have taken the run of the place, there are ants, centipedes, spiders, and more.
There are signs of use less than a month old; these could be from Jazzomyn and her two companions. Reb goes to the shrine and makes an offering to Beory. Butch gathers a lot of blackberries and makes a nice jam with his Olla.
A new day and our friends continue on their journey. They come across a scene of carnage; at the side the road lay a dead donkey and a dead manticore, the latter has many arrows sticking from it. Reb plays a joke on the others by laying his bow next to the donkey and exclaiming: "This donkey killed a manticore!"
A closer investigation shows that the manticore was attacked with spells as well as arrows. The donkey was likely used as a beast of burden, just like their own. Whatever it was carrying was taken. Their best guess is that the creatures have been dead a few weeks, which fits with the other signs they found, this was likely Jazzomyn's.
A thunderstorm starts just as our friends come to the next building and they quickly rush inside the third Imperial Wayhouse.
Tour of Sormark
Our friends have gathered quite a few people to make the journey to Resoborg with. There's 34 former Cat lair people, 6 deserters, 11 halflings, and a tribe of 40 goblins; 91 souls all together. Fortunately it's only a trek of three days and with some hunting and some spells they can provide enough food for everyone.
The guards at the Sormark gate are quite a bit concerned when they see the travelers arrive, especially the goblin contingent seems to worry them. A watch captain is called for and a deal is struck; Reb takes full responsibility for the goblins and he will house them overnight in an empty warehouse or something of the kind.
During the journey the party has been talking to all the survivors to see which ones might be more trouble than they're worth to bring to Hollenvik. These eight are said goodbye to and are each given some money to make a new start of life in the city. Davis, leader of the deserters also decides to go her own way. All the other people, the halflings, and the goblins have taken up the offer to settle in the party's small village.
Our friends want to drop by Lars Gerhardt to see how he's doing but his pawn shop is now a butcher shop. The people there have never heard of Lars, they bought the place from someone named Harald Sanddahl. The party checks out the paperwork and it all seems legit, but what happened to Lars remains a mystery.
The next morning our friends have newly bought wagons, donkeys, and supplies ready for the journey ahead. Over night one person seems to have disappeared but everyone else is ready to start their new life and happy for the party's help.