Wellerstown

As the shoreline of Kassoth appears in sight, Darien and Smithy elect to head towards the settlement of Wellerstown to interrogate its foreman for Burton Weller; Weltread and Ciana will continue back to Kesh on foot. As the Holy Diver approaches the town, a large plume of smoke is spotted coming from a warehouse outside the city proper. Darien and Smithy go to investigate and there find several lizardfolk natives surrounding the building with someone trapped inside. As the individual inside jumps out the building, the lizardfolk attack all three but are soon driven off.

The man introduces himself as Grayson, the second-in-command of Wellerstown who came out to inspect the work before the attack happened, during which his workers abandoned him. The lizardfolk he says have made attacks in the past, angered at the company's destruction of their ancestral jungle. Darien and Smithy are wary of Grayson and don't appreciate his rather colonialist view of the natives, but agree to let him escort them to Wellerstown after stashing the Holy Diver in a nearby cove.

Darien and Smithy inquire about Rais Vedoma, the town's foreman and the last on Weller's list of suspects. Grayson is not her biggest fan. He says she had been taking meetings with a mysterious individual named Alathan regularly up until a few weeks ago, when Alathan left as quickly as he arrived.

Meanwhile, the workers of Wellerstown have been extremely angry at Weller's impending decision to scale back operations. Grayson says that Weller has offered six month's pay as compensation, but it is seen by many as an insultingly small amount. Grayson says something about the whole situation feels fishy however, and he suspects Vedoma has something to do with it. He seems willing to help, although Smithy doesn't know if he trusts Grayson's motivations.

As they arrive in Wellerstown proper, it quickly becomes clear that Grayson is not well liked among the populace. He takes Darien and Smithy first to Vedoma's office but finds it empty. Grayson then takes them to a large auditorium-like meeting/dining hall called the Caf to inquire about her whereabouts, but no one wants to talk to Grayson. Darien is struck by how little anyone seems to care about Grayson's authority as second-in-command.

They return to Vedoma's office, where Grayson picks the lock and views her itinerary. He finds that she is planning to inspect a few of the outer milling sites including one that has been decommissioned and awaiting repairs after a lizardfolk attack. They elect to head out there and interrogate her.

Chapter Nine

"Wellerstown"

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Previous Chapter: Down Too Long in the Midnight Sea

Next Chapter: This Lumberjack is Not Okay

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Ingame Date: 19^th of High Sun, 1855
Real-Life Date: May 22, 2022
Protagonists:

• Darien Lothar
• Smithy
• Grayson Weller

Featured NPCs:

• Kristofer Weltread
• Ciana

Locations:

• Wellerstown