Session 17: Frankie and the Boromar

General Summary

Battle in the Cogs

• The session picked up in the midst of a conversation with Frankie, a Boromar that was familiar to some of the Crew. In the past, he had been much more friendly to them than almost any other Boromar.
• He began by saying that unlike many of his brothers and sisters, he liked them, and because of this, he was going to give them a choice on how the conversation could go. Option one, they have a friendly chat and tell him where they're going. Option two, they refuse and watch their friend's associate slowly melt in the lava. Behind the party, another halfling held the SCS skeleton Krem Red-Eye above the lava river. Frankie told them that if any of them moved, in he goes. The whole time, it was clear that Frankie was not enjoying having to have this conversation.
• Dooturr did not like having his friend threatened, and took a step forward, telling Frankie to let Krem go. As he did so, the halfling snapped one of Krem's ribs off with a howl and tossed it into the lava. Verin immediately moved to cast a spell, Charm Person, on Frankie, which failed, causing three more snaps and another scream from Krem.
• With a sigh of almost frustration, Frankie rubbed his forehead, and took a step forward, asking the Crew once again to just tell him where they were going. Viribus spoke up, saying they were following a lead regarding the attacks from Droaam, but were not at liberty to discuss anything further. Upon hearing this, Frankie gave a small nod to the halfling holding Krem, who moved him away from the lava.
• Verin, however, did not take this too kindly, and immediately cast a spell to grow Viribus and Ashpin to terrifying sizes, and a battle broke out - Frankie giving warnings, saying that a fight in The Cogs would awaken things they don't want awakened.
• Neither Frankie nor his dinosaur made to attack, the former of which was grappled by Viribus. The latter stood completely clueless without orders, but Frankie was too distracted to command him. As the battle raged on, Frankie told Viribus that if they were there for what he thought they were, then they were going to shut the place down, and then they'll never get in without his help.
• Viribus shouted at the other Boromars to stand down - they seemed to consider it, before horses and undead and Ashpins attacked them in kind.
• True to Frankie's warning, tentacled creatures began to attack the party from above, as almost all of the halflings were dispatched with ease - one of which escaping, another knocked unconscious, another Shattered into the lava pool, and yet another reincarnated as a servant of N'nchyk. The monsters, however, proved much more difficult prey, managing to pull victims up to its height and taking massive bites out of its victims, even managing to use them as shields.
• After a significant amount of time, however, the monsters were slain. Frankie did not escape unscathed, as Dooturr took advantage of the fact that he was grappled and unable to fight back, having Thanos pierce through one of his eyeballs with his thumb.

Conversation with Frankie

• The aftermath of the battle saw some infighting within the Crew there were disagreements on who started what, what was necessary or unnecessary, and what to do with Frankie. He seemed rather unhappy with Verin and Dooturr in particular, and was second-guessing his offer for help.
• Dooturr continued to antagonize Frankie, saying the Boromar Clan sought to genocide the SCS unprovoked. Frankie retorted by addressing the rest of the Crypt Crew, saying that he's sure Dooturr has failed to mention just how many halflings the SCS has killed.
• Frankie went on to recount, from his perspective, just how the Boromar Clan and the SCS came to be at odds with one another - after The Mourning struck, the Boromars invited the skeletons to the city, saying they sympathized with them. The skeletons, however, rejected their invitation, apparently having their own plans for the city.
• Viribus, dismissing any claim of halfling-skeleton politics, said that he has been on the receiving end of several attempts on his life by the mafiosos, and intended to squash the threat once and for all, telling Frankie he could choose to be on whatever side of it he wanted. Frankie, seemingly overwhelmed, said he didn't know what he wanted anymore.
• Dooturr said that regardless, Frankie is culpable for any actions he has carried out, as he can always choose to refuse bad orders, but Ashpin says perhaps the orders are all he's ever known. And even if the orders were bad, he wouldn't know it. Dooturr, however, was rather offended that they were even entertaining a conversation with Frankie.
• Ashpin and Viribus went back for the halfling, Billy, that Ashpin knocked unconscious, Ashpin very firmly saying that no one will kill him. They brought him into another building, and began talking to each other, with Billy trying to run away while they conversed. Ashpin yelled him down, his visage becoming rather imposing and unsettling, and Viribus snatching the now-terrified mafioso.
• They questioned him, asking what he knew about the feud between the SCS and the Boromar Clan, in order to compare his story with Frankie's. He gave a rather similar account, saying that it seemed like they'd been fighting the SCS since they'd been born. The Boromar Clan wanted them in the city, but it seemed the SCS had their own agenda. "I ain't gonna pretend like we innocent - but neither are they."
• Viribus mentioned that plenty of the Boromar's "offers" didn't seem to be much of an offer, as much as it was a way to force others in line with them. The halfling responded by saying there was nothing for the Boromar Clan to offer them, besides an invitation to the city. Ashpin and Viribus gave Billy a lecture, and sent him on his way.
• Maleakos then cast Zone of Truth, Frankie consenting to answer questions under its effects. He was then asked to once again recount the history of the SCS and the Boromar. He started off by establishing that while they may think poorly of the halflings, they've formed the backbone of Sharn for centuries, shaping it into the most populous and successful city in all of Khorvaire. He said it would've been good for business to have the Mournland skeletons in the city, but they had their own plans.
• N'nchyk mentioned the posters that had been put up around the city, saying it was clear that they wanted to genocide the SCS. Frankie said this wasn't true - they wanted the skeletons out of the city. Committing racial genocide is not an efficient way to wage war.
• Dooturr said the difference between him and the Boromar Clan was that he didn't kill people, but the halflings did. Frankie took exception to this, saying that not only were his cousins Tommy and Jet killed by the SCS, but that the skeletons infiltrated one of their storage facilities and killed four Boromars to steal a coral tablet. Maybe Dooturr didn't kill people, but others in his syndicate clearly did.
• Philip, also known as Jerome, was asked his opinion of the scenario, as he had simply been taking the whole conversation. Jerry said he didn't think simply exterminating all of the Boromar Clan was a viable solution, but that yes, their monopoly had gone too far.
• There was a brief disagreement on what the government would be with or without the Boromar Clan, and the conversation reached a tipping point. Frankie knew his situation, that there were how many Crewmates, and only one of him. There wasn't much he could do to stop them from doing what they wanted. He merely warned them that even if they somehow managed to accomplish what they wanted, the outcome would not be as fine and dandy as they may hope.
• Viribus asked if Frankie is truly happy with the decisions that his superiors have made. Frankie thought for a while about this question, finally concluding that he couldn't deny the good life they've given him, and given plenty of people in the city. 
• They then discussed the coral tablet, Dooturr at first denying knowing about it, but eventually conceding that it was a mission from the guild. He accused the Boromars of stealing it in the first place, but Frankie said that they had actually purchased it from a fisherman, before it was stolen from their warehouse.
• N'nchyk recalled that Frankie made the claim that if the Boromar Clan were removed from the city, then the city would deteriorate. Dooturr countered, saying that cities everywhere functioned without mobs, and that organized crime didn't even really fund anything. "Organized crime is a leech on society." ~Dooturr Calico, dignitary of the Skeleton Crime Syndicate
• With all that had been said, the Crew agreed that Frankie was at least somewhat of an upstanding halfling, and he and Dooturr claimed mutual respect for the other.
• Viribus also asked where they got their dinosaurs, as the one had simply been standing there clueless. He cited their ancestors in the Talenta Plains, who have a gift with the beasts, and sometimes engage in exporting such goods.
• Frankie said it seemed he would not be able to talk them out of doing what they wanted, so he left them with a warning. Not every problem is one that they could punch their way out of. However strong or numerous they think they are, the Boromar are just as strong, and far more numerous.
• And with that, Frankie set off, having a puff with Maleakos, who volunteered to help him make his way out of the The Cogs unscathed.

Date begun:
24 Zarantyr, 998 YK
Date ended:
24 Zarantyr, 998 YK
Party level:
6

Report Date

15 Apr 2021

Primary Location

Sharn