Session IV: The Lanced Man
4th of Derima, 560 AL
Surveying the murder scene at the Zivil Ward, the party investigates the room. A spear has impaled Servius of the Mith'Missos in his own apartment. Flint scatters the crowd with an intimidating command, leaving only the party at the scene. Cornelius questions a nearby genasi named Bella, who tells him that she didn't hear any blast; only a bit of tapping on the roof.
Meanwhile, Flint and Strattora interview a man in a scholar's robe across the courtyard. They coerce their way into his house, threatening him. He tells them that he saw: the projectile came straight down from an unknown place, making no noise as it broke through the building.
Afterward, the party joins back together, discussing their findings. Further investigation reveals that the spear is actually a ballista bolt. Melinoe discovers that it is coated in a faint magical residue of a past effect. Cornelius and Astra believe that the bolt is of Six-Guild make.
The party takes a ferry to the Guildrock, where they make their way to the workshops in the Guild Foundry. They enter the workshop of the Guild of Arms, run by House Ornata. While they are immediately stopped by a workshop assistant, Cornelius is able to convince him that they are envoys from his own house, the Magellanic family. This spacious open workshop is littered with projects of varying degrees of efficacy, from a curved guillotine to a ballista pointing out a southern window. A dozen workers and engineers are toiling away on new projects, but the ballista is of the greatest interest to the party. A gnomish man with fiery red hair, Marinus, is leading the project with two genasi assistants. He greets them and Cornelius tells him that the Magellanic family is looking at giving the workshop some business. Marinus seems to believe the lie.
Cornelius questions him thoroughly on the workings of the ballista. The party learns that the ballista bolts are kept securely locked to the wall. Only two keys can unlock them, but Marinus does not reveal where the keys are or who has access to them. Cornelius presses further, and the gnome asks if they can negotiate their "business deal" in private, still seeming to believe Cornelius's fib. The party then splits, with Cornelius and Flint heading to a separate office to negotiate the "terms".
Melinoe, Astra, and Strattora stay behind to question the workers of the foundry. A doltish earth/air genasi answers some of their questions. Zeroing in on him, Astra has a moment of clarity. The genasi is lying about something: guilty of a secret and nervous about it being revealed. They immediately pepper the assistant with questions, and he breaks just as quickly. He reveals that he was paid by a visitor to the foundry to test the ballista in front of him. All he had to do was pull the lever and the man would give him four months' salary. That man was Denogus Erinyes, patriarch of house Erinyes and Melinoe's father.
In the side office, Cornelius and Flint join the foreman Marinus and his protégé Turuvaldë. Marinus offers them a drink and they gladly accept. The three of them sit down to begin the discussions as Turuvaldë observes them. As they speak with Marinus, Cornelius continues weaving his narrative that the Magellanic family is interested in patronizing the workshop. When Marinus prods about the capacity in which they actually represent the family, Cornelius maintains that they are merely "scouting". A frustrated Marinus seems to see past Cornelius's ruse at this point, and he casts a sending spell to an unknown recipient. He has alerted the authorities. Flint immediately conjures a smokescreen of darkness around the pair to enable their escape. Marinus and his assistant attempt to stop them but are outrun. Cornelius and Flint run to the workshop, alerting the rest of the party to the situation. They join together and begin to flee the foundry. Cornelius warps Marinus to the far side of the building's exterior, effectively removing him from the chase. With that, the party is able to sprint out of the workshop and take flight off the Guildrock docks. The party flies over the city, discussing their options. Hiding seems most appealing, so they make their way to the Ram's Horn tavern. It is an acropolis with a veritable forest bursting out of its roof. Its location perched above the city gives it an air of seclusion. The party pays for a single room and heads up the winding tree trunk staircases.
"Please don't break his kneecaps. The left one is the weak one." CorneliusStrattora searches Servius's body and room. In his robes, she finds a cube with inscriptions suggesting some kind of homing or seeking functionality. She surmises that he must have gotten involved in something deeper than he intended. The pieces of the puzzle begin to come together. Someone may have planted the cube on his body, attracting the bolt straight to him. Flint stows the cube in a lead box purchased from the Talus armory for safekeeping. The party decides to visit the six guild workshops for further answers. They refresh themselves at Strattora's apartment and Cornelius explains his complicated relationship with his family. His family is the Magellanics, a noble family that recently entered the Six-guilds as the Guild of Porters. He is estranged from them, though, as he could not conform to his father's expectations. With those revelations in mind, the party sets out for the Guildrock.
The party takes a ferry to the Guildrock, where they make their way to the workshops in the Guild Foundry. They enter the workshop of the Guild of Arms, run by House Ornata. While they are immediately stopped by a workshop assistant, Cornelius is able to convince him that they are envoys from his own house, the Magellanic family. This spacious open workshop is littered with projects of varying degrees of efficacy, from a curved guillotine to a ballista pointing out a southern window. A dozen workers and engineers are toiling away on new projects, but the ballista is of the greatest interest to the party. A gnomish man with fiery red hair, Marinus, is leading the project with two genasi assistants. He greets them and Cornelius tells him that the Magellanic family is looking at giving the workshop some business. Marinus seems to believe the lie.
In the side office, Cornelius and Flint join the foreman Marinus and his protégé Turuvaldë. Marinus offers them a drink and they gladly accept. The three of them sit down to begin the discussions as Turuvaldë observes them. As they speak with Marinus, Cornelius continues weaving his narrative that the Magellanic family is interested in patronizing the workshop. When Marinus prods about the capacity in which they actually represent the family, Cornelius maintains that they are merely "scouting". A frustrated Marinus seems to see past Cornelius's ruse at this point, and he casts a sending spell to an unknown recipient. He has alerted the authorities. Flint immediately conjures a smokescreen of darkness around the pair to enable their escape. Marinus and his assistant attempt to stop them but are outrun. Cornelius and Flint run to the workshop, alerting the rest of the party to the situation. They join together and begin to flee the foundry. Cornelius warps Marinus to the far side of the building's exterior, effectively removing him from the chase. With that, the party is able to sprint out of the workshop and take flight off the Guildrock docks. The party flies over the city, discussing their options. Hiding seems most appealing, so they make their way to the Ram's Horn tavern. It is an acropolis with a veritable forest bursting out of its roof. Its location perched above the city gives it an air of seclusion. The party pays for a single room and heads up the winding tree trunk staircases.
