03 Books and Murders

General Summary

Having now gotten access to many of the Guild's resources, the Party decides to go to the local library, the Amethyst Athenaeum, which is one in a chain of libraries devoted to Lilion. At the front desk they find an Aasimar man named Art, who has golden lines above his eyebrows. Not as tattoos, but as a part of the skin itself. When using magic, the lines light up and start shining, while also expanding and going higher. Chip immediately asks if they have Goblin-Common-Goblin dictionaries, and the Aasimar opens the Directory book and within seconds finds the right page, almost as if by magic. Sadly, the library only has a Common to Goblin dictionary. However they do find out, that one of the books is a love story between two goblins, with some.. very interesting parts. The other one is a cookbook

. They meet an Orc woman, Glathut, who looks very bookish. She has huuge muscles and tiny, tiny spectacles. After checking the Guild seals of the group, she takes them to the fifth floor. Belladonna wants a book that tells you how to communicate with the dead, Aramys wants a general Killahead history book, Elzador wants a book on magical artifacts, and Chip wants to spend time reading an adventure novel. They all get what they ask for from the shelves, but Chip gets to read Gladeth's own copy of the Seven Adventures of the Seelie Court. Belladonna discovers that Isthellir's artefacts can be of help when dealing with the dead.
Elzador finds information on an item that is of a similar source as the one he lost. That item has magical properties that make it easier for the carrier to aqcuire fame and be more likable (mad bonuses to charisma). Due to this artefact's power, the wearer can share this power with their bloodline.   The Party decides to go back to the Guild's tavern, where they get some lunch and ask for their taglocks back to destroy them. They inqure about any missions that might be open at the moment, but there are none. After a few drinks (and Belladonna getting extremely drunk), Aramys and Chip head to the Cantrip Clove and meet Liam, the sweet old Tortle who runs the store.   The two look around the shop's inventory and ask about the items. Chip wants to find something to help him comprehend languages, Liam offers to whip him up a scroll for the price of 120GP, and offers to lower it to 20GP if the pair does him a favor. Liam tells them about a friend of his, Namys, who hasn't delivered the Alchemy Ointment he commissioned. Liam offers the discount if they help her with anything she needs to make and bring him the ointment.   Meanwhile, Elzador and Belladonna go to the Gray Market to shop and look around. Elzador looks around for a specific necklace, but sadly doesn't find it. He asks around for a magical hexagon emerald necklace. A merchant offers to inquire his colleagues about a necklace like that and asks for Elzador's last name, which he refuses to give. After leaving the shop, he notices the clerk locking the door and switches the Open sign to Closed.   Elzador heads to the Cantrip Clove to get Belladonna a potion to cure her... situation. He walks past a bookstore called Baylen's Books. The clerk there is a Gnome man, who acts very ADHD and kind of as if he was high. He brings him a book called "Everything You Need to Know About Demons and Their Realms." It looks very fancy and costs 70GP. The Gnome offers to lower the price to 65GP.   The gnome made some weird comments about not knowing any gnomes, which made Elzador think that he may not be a gnome after all. He said that they also buy books, and sell Scrolls of Comprehend Language. If a scroll is bought with a book, the scroll will be -50%. Elzador casts a spell on the Gnome, which makes him open up to the wizard. He says that he is not a gnome, that he is green, Elzador gathers from this that he means he is a goblin.   Elzador and Belladonna have a conversation about Bella wanting to speak to the dead, and she says she just wants to see her Dad and uncle Felix. She just wants to tell them that she misses them. She says that in the goblin cave, when she summoned the spirits of her ancestors, she saw her Dad there. Elzador very kindly suggests that Belladonna could go through his cousin's laboratory to find anything that could help her contact her family.   They now reach the Cantrip Clove and see the other two party members. Liam plays a magic Vuvuzela that sobers Belladonna up immediately and empties her Flaskie.   They arrive at Namys' home. Belladonna knocks the door down, and they see the dead body. They start looking around for the ointment, Aramys finds some loot this way. They find a ring on Namys' body that has the sigil of the Vixen Syndicate. Aramys sits down and starts communing with Namys. Elzador finds a button on the vanity that opens a secret pathway downstairs. In the secret room there's an alchemy station, some costumes and wigs, and a magic necklace (Necklace of Disguise Self. On the station they find half-finished potions and a letter addressed to Liam.  

Dear Liam,
Do others pay per edible, like guards' advisors, namely Gus, each round squares?
Every vote exacts rights, you watch how easily reality ensues.

— Namys

  She also has pieces of information about different persons and organizations. She knew something about someone on the Triumvirate of Arcadia. The King's personal guard tried to assassinate Her. The bartender of the GGG is originally from UnderTown. The Petlynn family has rapidly lost her fame, fortune, and influence.   Aramys is now connected to Namys and asking her questions. She is indeed part of the Vixen Syndicate. The Trimverate is connected to her murder, and she knows someone on the Council. They figure out the note, it says "Doppelgangers everywhere." They now see green "goo" around Namys' home, and the party deduces that she was killed by a doppelgänger. They decide to take the letter to Liam.   On the way there, the party has trouble with a guard after Elzador tells him they found a dead body. One of the guards is a dwarf who is surprised to find Belladonna alive. He directs her towards Isthellir for information on how to communicate with the dead.   Liam is saddened that Namys is dead and communicates so to the other members of the Syndicate through the ring. They to tell him Namys has passed and about the Doppelgänger conspiracy. He also deduces that someone on the Triumverate is a doppelgänger.   They go back to the Guild and talk to Arlayana. After asking her about UnderTown, she changes and drops the customer service act. Elzador notices a Vixen ring on her finger and they decide to go somewhere a little more private to chat, that being the room of Aramys and Chip. On the way there Aramys laces Arlayana's drink with the Truth Serum she found at Namys' palce.   Arlayana gets to the room and the group tells her that Namys is dead. She is indeed a member of the Vixen Syndicate. She knows two members of the Triumverate. She tells them that UnderTown is enormous, as it is the world of the Underdark. She explains how the Syndicate works - there are quite a few members, they occasionally help each other but don't really communicate a lot. She promises to tell Argon about the current situation as well.   Elzador tells them how he lost the family artefact in a game of chance to a charlatan with long hair and a beard. Arlayana says that it may have been an enemy or a disgraced member of the family in disguise. She suggests that he uses a Scrying spell on the necklace to get clues as to where it may have been. They make a plan that Belladonna can go to the King saying she represents a kingdom. This would be so they could get information on the King's assassination and maybe get the King's favor.

Notes

There are certain ships that are tied to a specific trade. For example there are ships that have studied mages on them. Those ships go around visiting cities to buy magical artefacts off of the local adventurers with the intent of selling them to a magic shop later at a higher rate.
The Triumvirate of Arcadia has three members, all of whom are experts of a specific area of expertise - magic, trade, and communications.
Elzador's cousin got banished from the family because he started experimenting on the servants.