Session 8 2/25/23

On the way back to town, we came across some vegepygmys who had attacked a merchant and were now looting his corpse. Of course, we did the job of law enforcement even though we were relatively close to town and took care of them. Being plant based, it was more like aggressive gardening than a true battle. One did manage to strike me pretty hard, giving me permission to obliterate it and all it's friends. I immediately swore a vow of enmity against it and divinely smote it to the ground. After that, I flanked the two remaining and froze them while Rex threw fire and the others attacked where they could. Again, more like gardening than fighting. There was even a shovel off to the side of the road to complete the garden feel.
 
I inspected the leader of the plant foes, and then checked in on the fallen civilian, which is how I learned he was a merchant. Of course, I wrote this all up in a report to give to the guards since they apparently don't want to earn their wage and expect the rest of the population to do their job for them. Upon arrival at the gate I turned in my report with minimal snark.
 
We all went back to the hotel and rested for the night, it had been quite a long day of traveling.
 
The next morning, a letter was waiting for me. Apparently the incompetent guards are trying to fine me 50 gold for another "prisoners" debt. This will not stand. Verna and I immediately went to the station and had a discussion about how naive their officers must be if they believed a prisoner's word when it came to having another citizen pay their fine. Back in my hometown, a signature of some kind would be required to officiate that kind of debt transfer. I'll need to remember the name of the officer if I ever get fined, I'll put his name down as the one paying my fine and apparently just saying it out loud is good enough. Reminds me of the play where the buffoon "declared bankruptcy" in front of all his subordinates thinking that was all it took to formally declare bankruptcy. Good play, funny story. The kind of culture you don't see in a small logging town.
 
Fortunately, the officer realized he messed up, releasing me from the debt, but instead of owning his mistake he passed it on to the prisoner and claimed it was perjury, which is punishable by death without trial in this town. I must say, that's a clever way for the police to cover up their mistakes. Apparently the prisoner was Rex, and I glossed over that detail in the letter. I knew he was an idiot when it came to real life interactions, but I thought he would at least die a glorious death in battle, not whimpering at the end of an executioner's hand. His book smarts didn't get him very far. The officer placed a bounty of 100 gold on Rex's head and asked us to deliver the bounty to the local guild hall. Of course a bureaucracy like this could afford 100 gold bounties on a whim with no approval or oversight process, but can't afford to pay for competent officers or delivery personnel.
 
On the way to the hall, Verna astutely noticed we were being followed, which I didn't like. The best way to shake a tail is to kill it, but unfortunately there is a facade of civilization here so that would likely be frowned upon. Verna took the bounty and the two of us parted ways. Verna went to shake the tail long enough before delivering the notice for me to warn Rex of his impending doom. I arrived at the hotel and let Rex know there was good news and bad news - good, I was not responsible for the fine; bad, he has a bounty on his head.
 
Strangely enough, he panicked and ran off, something about making a new identity. I waited for Verna and then we went to investigate the prosthetic shop and ask for odd jobs at the guild hall. The shop was fishy, but fortunately lightly guarded. We can get more information another day and breaking in won't be hard . The hall had two jobs. First, clearing the bakery of rats in the basement. Second, bring proof of dead wisps. We'll need vials to get proof, which we can buy after clearing the bakery. Easy.
 
Prior to meeting up to clear the bakery, Verna and I hatch an idea to maybe get Rex out of his quandary. If we can get the bounty updated with the line "Known shapeshifter," then Rex will be in the clear. He's not a shapeshifter, verified by the evil orc Vlorg who has sway in this town. Plus, if the "criminal" is a shapeshifter then it just borrowed Rex's visage. Plausible deniability, and two words that could easily be mistakenly added or left out of a given document. The guild hall won't change it without a formal change request from the police office, and we don't think we can forge one. We head to the police station and discuss the "error" with the secretary on duty, who totally believes that the officer in question would make that kind of mistake and swiftly creates a real change notice for us to deliver to the guild hall. Problem solved.
 
The party meets up in the hotel and we head off to the bakery to clear the rats. Should be an easy job, and for 50 gold the payout to effort ratio is very good. 12 gold each and 2 gold left to buy two vials.
 
We head down, and there's just a couple rats at first that are easily dispatched, then in the corner there's a giant swarm of them! Rex for some reason tries to tackle a rat. Not sure why. I make my way up to the swarm and start fighting. Something comes over me and I feel the urge to strike Rex. Something dominated my will. Mine! While there have been times I have wanted to kill him - he's literally burned me on multiple occasions, and just this morning tried to pin a 50 gold fine on me - if it ever comes to the point where I cause his glorious death, I will do it 100% of my own free will. Common rats taking advantage of that inkling to influence my actions is unacceptable. As soon as I shake that influence, I swear another vow against this swarm, and swing with all my might. A brilliant flash of white light emanates when I strike, and the swarm vaporizes instantly. (Nat 20+divine strike =42 damage)
 
Easy enough battle, maybe Rex with his new identity plus the "corrected" bounty notice will actually survive. Worst case, we collect the bounty ourselves if he dies. We exit the basement, collect our pay, and on the way back to the hotel we buy two vials before turning in for the night.
 
--------------------------
Rewards:
12 gold per player
2 vials (not sure who is holding them)