Session 5: Tenders and a New Project Report
General Summary
The Forest is now completely still, the Party is still alone beside the three dead bodies. No other person or animal moved. After a breather to make sure they were all in one piece, the Party begins to head back to town, and along the way, Vadania checks on her pouch, giving some pets (??). Rothgar lets the girls know that he wants to find someone who can tell them more about the runes on the stone, and Vadania suggests going back to Elcas to let him know that they found the ship.
As the Party approaches the city, they begin to see lines of people and wagons attempting to enter the city on King's Road. It looks like merchants! Before they get into town, Rothgar gives Andry and Vadania 2GP each from one of the dead guys' stash. Making their way into the city, the Party sees Kings Road spread out before them, with a large field to the left where they can see many stands, people, and all of the signs of a massive market.
Amazing smells and sights abound, but one in particular gets the attention of the Party. It is some kind of meat, and looks to be coming from a stand manned by a grumpy looking orc. Walking over, Rothgar orders Axebeak tenders (2BP), quickly eating some and subsequently drooling over how good they are. He talks with the stand owner, Dura, and finds out about a sketchy part of town called the Rift. Vadania then orders some crab and a small piece of the sketchiest meat Dura has on hand (3BP). Andry orders the Axebeak tenders after smelling Rothgar's. Dura lets the Party know that she is normally in the city center on Wednesdays with her stand. Before more can be said, Elcas spots the Party in the market.
Hearing they were in town, Elcas came to find them (the Circle has eyes everywhere). They head back to an enclosed booth, where Elcas holds up a cylindrical item and twists it, saying that they have 5 minutes to speak uninterrupted. With that, the sounds of the market are muted. Rothgar starts, saying that they found the ship and with it a giant hole in the hull, fought a crab family, and they found a large stone. The stone gets placed on the table. Elcas states that the runes are Giant runes, but says that he will need to go see his friend at the University to translate them. The Party asks if Elcas has seen stones like this before, but he hasn't seen one this big before. Usually, the Eye uses much smaller projectiles.
Elcas tells the Party that a few weeks ago another small group was sent, but they were never heard from. It was a group of three. With a sad look between them, the Party tells Elcas that they found three bodies in Tunworth Forest, with no wounds, near a sketchy glowing skeleton. Elcas reveals that he knows of the skeleton, that the skeleton is a host to shadows - undead constructs made by a necromancer in an ancient war. The Necromancer's name has been lost to time, as well as most of the tale. He fought inhabitants of the forest, was spurned in love, and then due to his anger, bound those creatures into the skeletons of his foes, such that defeating one of the constructs was nearly impossible. If someone was to damage the skeleton, the shadow would just separate and keep fighting until it reconnected with the skeleton, which would regenerate and then keep fighting, etc. Andry and Vadania slyly low-five, hearing this description.
Elcas says he will have to put together a team to eradicate the skeleton, and asks if the Party is interested, but says more than 3 people will be needed to help since the skeleton is so dangerous. The reward would be substantial, however he would have to check to see what it would actually be. While explaining all of this, a sketchy bird is noticed, prompting Elcas to have concerns they are being watched.
[INTERLUDE - A STRAY DOG ATTACKS ANDRY LOVINGLY, ROTHGAR HAD TO CHUCK IT AWAY...]
The Party also tells Elcas of the Raven, how it didn't follow them, but instead just watched. They ask if Elcas has any insight into ravens. He reminds them that the group he mentioned before is associated with the Raven Queen, and that some members have raven familiars or keep pet ravens. He wouldn't always trust them. The Party says that they saw it twice, on the beach... so the Circle most likely knows what they're doing.
Then, Elcas offers the Party membership in the Circle, saying it's a group of friends, no contracts needed. Rothgar puts him off, saying they haven't seen enough of the city yet. Elcas proceeds to offer the Party more work, telling them that over the last several weeks there has been a discrepancy in deliveries. The Circle owns several banks in the city, and at one in particular, tellers notice that the jewels and money they are receiving doesn't match what is available for them to give out for withdrawals. Everything always adds up until the time of withdrawals. He asks, "You can handle combat, but do you have a delicate touch?" The challenge in the question is obvious.
Andry immediately asks, holding back nothing, "How much are we talking?" Elcas, misunderstanding, replies, "How much is being stolen? More than you were paid today has been stolen." Then realizing he misunderstood, tells them, "The reward is 2GP to find up how they're doing it, 10GP to catch the thieves (ALIVE)." He pulls out two potions of healing as a down payment on this job, but the Party doesn't take them since they haven't confirmed that they are taking this new job.
Elcas tells them that he took the liberty of having the ship they arrived on sent to the shipyard (the Notinus Shipyard) since it was beginning to list where it was left in the harbor. It's currently undergoing repairs, minor ones for now, but it needs much more in depth repairs.
The Party asks Elcas about the Rift, and he admits that its reputation is probably worse than it deserves. After being asked about places to stay, Elcas recommends the Sapphire Grove Inn. The Party thanks him and says that they were heading towards the Temple of Moradin, and agree to meet Elcas tomorrow at the temple. The next shipment is at 10AM, Elcas tells them, before leaving the potions on the table and taking his leave. The Party does not take Elcas's potions, but have an entire conversation about what to do, how to read the runes, and next steps.
Elcas comes back in, highly entertained. He takes the potions back since the Party didn't take them, swipes the stone with one hand (keeping it covered!), and promptly walks out of the back side of the booth.
The Party leaves the booth, heading back towards the market, when a small nose peeks out of Vadania's satchel. The Party wants to find somewhere safer to stay, somewhere that isn't part of the Circle or the Eye, so that they can talk. Together, they decide to try and find Captain Trebond and see what his thoughts are at some point. They also decide to go see the Smith, Avani Roti.
On the way to the Smith's, Vadania notices two individuals in heavy cloaks who look at her just slightly too long, and then continue on their way. Putting Vadania on edge, she attempts to stealthily look at them, but they are looking over their shoulders so she can't see much. Finally, they make it to the Smithy, after a rousing performance down the road that Vadania struggled with.
When they enter the Smithy, Avani is directing her apprentice, and another large man is hammering away at a project. A few other beefy looking humanoids are standing around, covered in grime. Andry, trying to be stealthy and struggling because of her spear, tries to see the guys who were following the group, but she can't see anything. Vadania and Andry send Rothgar to Avani to talk, since she likes him best. Avani comes back and directs them into the store part of the smithy. She looks at the spear that Andry has, but has never seen something similar before. She has no idea how it was made, and starts to inspect the spear, the Party seeing a shimmering over the weapon while she works. Vadania makes an Arcana check, but fails and doesn't recognize the spell.
The weapon is enchanted - whoever wields it doesn't feel its weight in battle. Avani casts the Identify spell on the wand, telling them it is a wand of detect magic. The Party has some questions for her, after she finishes her inspection. They tell Avani about seeing the people in black robes following them, and ask her if that's normal. Offhand, Avani doesn't know of a group that would wear black cloaks like the group described. They then discuss that they feel constantly watched by the two factions in the city. It's a bit disconcerting, and they'd like somewhere unaffiliated, if they can find it, to stay. Avani tells them that the Circle generally does good, for the most part. The Aquamarine, a hotel, is highly affiliated with the Circle, and the Sapphire Grove was also suggested, since it's good for travelers. She then says that most businesses in the city are unaffiliated with the factions, and that while they've had some issues in the past, the Eye generally leaves Avani alone. Most people in town just try to ignore the factions. The Party tells her that they've done some work for the Circle, although it was slightly unintentionally. They want to stay neutral but still make some money.
After some thought, Avani suggests the Peaceful Treasure Inn as a quiet place to stay, that's not too fancy and has decent food. The Party then plans a dinner with Avani tomorrow night after LOTS of flirting by Avani with Rothgar. While trying to leave, the Party checks for robed people, but don't see anyone, so they head out and head towards the harbor. At this time of day (midday), the docks are incredibly busy. There's a Portmaster on the docks, who Rothgar asks if Captain Brego is around. The Portmaster is distinctly UNhelpful, but says that Brego's ship is still at port. He's at the Goofy Seagull, so they head there, with Andry still trailing her spear as she goes.
The Goofy Seagull looks like a rundown shack, with a weathered sign above the door. Andry attempts to nonchalantly check if they're being followed, and notices the same two people the Party saw before near the Temple of Umberlee, sitting on the steps, trying to blend into the crowd of people. As they go inside, the Party is assaulted by the smell of beer, mead, grog, and what seems like slightly unwashed people and floors. They hear someone singing horridly offkey, and see that there are tables to the right, the bar to the left, and stairs behind the bar. When they look around, they realize the terrible singing is coming from Alessandro Brego, doing his best to sing sea shanties as loudly as he can to his friends.
The Party grabs some drinks from the bar and head to a table. Rothgar looks, but can't see the Temple from where he is sitting by the window. He then gets up and heads towards Brego, who is very excited to see them. Rothgar mentions the cloaked men to Brego, who immediately starts getting riled and saying that he can gather the boys to go after the cloaked men. Rothgar hurriedly tells him not to do so, but assures him that if they cause trouble to the Party, he will let Brego know.
At the table, Vadania mentions that the name of her satchel is Nox. Coming back to the table, Brego's crew mentions the Mariner's Rest as a great place to stay and Simon is a guy who has a shop and can appraise things. They tell the Party that Simon can be found at the Mariner's Rest when he isn't working. Not long after that, the Party decides to try and find Simon at the Mariner's Rest, and as they leave, Andry notices that she can't see the cloaked men anymore.
Taking main roads, the Party heads to the Mariner's Rest, head inside and see a fine looking desk, and behind it, a tall elf. They ask the elf about Simon, but he isn't there right now, he's at his shop. They leave the Mariner's Rest and then realize that they don't know the way to Simon's shop. They debate asking the cloaked guys for directions to try to and throw them off, but instead head back inside and ask the elf, Mirenelle, for directions.
As they head towards Simon's shop, they take Annandale road and look to see if the cloaked men are anywhere around. The men see the party and one hesitates. Vadania, tired of the games, says eff this, flings her cloak back and flares her wings. The first guy scoffs, flings his cloak back and flares his own wings, shouting Vadania's name. Oh shit.
The first cloaked guy heads towards Vadania, but Rothgar grabs his greataxe and steps in between them, telling the first cloaked guy that he needs to stop. The cloaked guy looks at him blankly - "this doesn't concern you." Vadania sends Nox into the veil and he disappears (WTF...???), then states, "I can't help you, I will guard him with my life." Cloaked guy 1 says that everything can be forgiven, but Vadania disagrees. Cloaked guy 1 says, "You have 2 days, and then we will return." He then dramatically lands, since he decided the whole time to be flying while talking to Vadania, and flips his wings behind himself like fancy tails on a tux, about faces and walks away. Cloaked guy 2 seems incredibly unsure of the entire situation, but just rolls with it and walks away as well. All of the bystanders in the street are giving the Party WTAF looks, extremely confused as to what just happened.
After that encounter, the Party decides that seeing Simon can wait, and goes back to the Goofy Seagull where friendly faces can be found.
