Session 19: The Captured Crew

General Summary

Moving to the Cave

• And so, the Crew was defeated. Hands raised, weapons collected, N'nchyk's minions slain...the Boromars and hippo guards glaring around at the party, seemingly waiting for something. Eventually, more guards and even Thuranni assassins showed up at the gate. The kenku spotted Viribus crouching behind the rubble, motioning to one of the hippo guards, and tossed the body of Kagastar unceremoniously towards N'nchyk.
• Once Viribus had emerged from behind the rubble, the kenku began to mock him again, saying that evidently real power was no match for a bird with a blade. Meanwhile, five individuals emerged from the gap in the wall face.
• The first were two Boromars adorned in similar practical clothing as the others that were apprehending the Crew, and other hippo guard. A stern-looking halfling woman, familiar to the Crew, was Remilda Mire, the woman seen outside the warehouse during the coral tablet mission. The second was a grizzled halfling with a sneer and a brawlish look about him, who walked with a bit of a limp. On his hands were very unique-looking gauntlets.
• The grizzled halfling introduced himself as Donnie Romano, and Remilda as his magical consultant expert. He immediately made it clear that as of right now, there was no intentions to kill any of them - unless someone decided to try and run, leaving their friends behind. While he was conversing with the Crew, he didn't seem angry as much as he did satisfied, which was somehow much worse.
• At Remilda's direction, the halflings gagged N'nchyk, Philip/Jerome, and Verin, and began collecting their gear while Donnie smirked around at them all. Slowly, but surely, everything from galifars to mycology journals to blood-red pendants were collected. As Donnie paced among all of the Crew, treating them all to his awful booze-ridden breath, he questioned Jerome. Philip said he was an old war friend of Ashpin's, and that he had come to seek justice on behalf of his friend Terrowin, who's casino was run out of business by the Boromar Clan. Donnie shrugged, saying they undoubtedly made enemies.
• His attention switched to Verin. He scanned his face, saying he swore he knew him from somewhere. Verin seemed as clueless as Donnie, until a look of realization fell upon Donnie's face and he began roaring in laughter. He said it was quite bold of Verin and the Crew to try and take their asses down when "they're the reason Varil here has a goddamn life". Donnie mocked "Varil", saying that apparently he thought he could just back out, and when's the last time he checked on his buddy?
• He looked incredulously at the rest of the Crew's confused faces, eventually saying that when he was young, Varil was starving in the streets. So, they gave him work, paid him enough and gave him a life, until he botched a job transporting some wine and fled. Without the Boromars, he'd be homeless, poor, or dead.

Donnie's Demands

• The Crew was led to the back wall of the cave, through which there was a long drawbridge leading to a cold stone path. The path followed a steep incline until reaching a branch in the path. The left path continued upwards, while the right path descended downwards. There was a wooden sign pointing to the left, but the right path was taken.
• Eventually, the Crew and their escort reached a cave. Inside the cave was a blundering hill giant named Bumchuckle, who regarded the party as food until Donnie talked him down.
• Donnie began lecturing the party, smugly saying that they were not the first to try and take down the Boromar Clan, and they would not be last. And he bet the party hadn't heard of the others who'd tried.
• Besides, what did the Crew have against them anyway? They helped steal from the halflings, intentionally disobeyed the job the Boromar had given them, and even gave them a warning - which was ignored. If anything, it should be the halflings that have a grudge against the party.
• But there was good news. The Boromar Clan had gotten themselves into quite a predicament, and the Crew was just what they needed to get out of it.
• They had found a buyer for the coral tablet they had obtained, and the buyer had given them an advance payment. However, they missed out on the sale due to the SCS's theft. The buyer then threatened the Boromar Clan with confidential information, saying they had better procure the tablet. But as luck would have it, a mysterious shadow organization stole the tablet from the SCS, reportedly compromising some of its members, and seized a Boromar Clan warehouse that sat atop an abandoned factory.
• And as all of this was going on, the Crew was meddling and causing more complications. High-ranking agents were slain, and the halflings' attacks were painted in a negative light by the city.
• And so, the job of the Crew was to excavate the warehouse of this shadow organization, and return the coral tablet once and for all. This will return control of their warehouse to themselves, complete the sale to get the buyer off their back, and even incidentally help the SCS. "When you do this, I recommend a subtler approach than the one yous took here. I’ve seen more subtlety from a bag of bricks, good gods."
• All Donnie knew about the shadow organization was that they seem to be obsessed with undeath. The SCS skeletons they stole from no longer have control over their own faculties, and are threatening the rest of the SCS. They killed ruthlessly, and whenever they could. At least the Boromar and the SCS had some semblance of a code. Donnie only ever saw one of them — a gnome in a greenish cloak, but couldn’t discern much about him.

Escaping the Cogs

• After the "deal" was made, Donnie revealed that it seemed Jerome was not truly a part of Sharn's beloved Crypt Crew, and so he would keep him behind to make sure the party got the job done.
• After N'nchyk and Donnie exchanged words and gauntlet punches, the Crew was released into The Cogs, devoid of gear and desperate for rest.
• As the party traveled across one of the many industrial bridges in The Cogs, with dwarvish and warforged workers bustling about, a howling noise could be heard as an incorporeal figure emerged from one of the vents. A dwarvish worker was vaporized, and the exhausted Crew jumped to action.
• N'nchyk's sprung a wall of water around the being, encasing it with another unfortunate dwarvish worker, vomiting on himself in the process. Viribus added onto the water with his own tentacled spell, and Ashpin's divine punch was waiting for the creature when it emerged from the swirling mass. But the party needed help.
• With the faint echo of an instrument, a blur of red burst through the same vent, a graceful flip, landing onto the surface below was a fully-geared and well-rested Maleakos, grasping the sentient severed head of a warforged Smoke.
• With the arrival of their new ally, the Crew managed to dispose of the horrid creature, which N'nchyk and Viribus managed to identify as a forgewraith. 
• Maleakos recounted his adventure, between escorting Frankie back to the entrance and exploring an old abandoned forge.
• Eventually, the exhausted and gear-less party split to finally rest for the night. Viribus retired to his mansion, the Bromance went back to Philip's to speak with Alice and grab Rusty, while the Orphans chose to spend the night at the Loft.

Character(s) interacted with

• Donnie Romano

Created Content

• Frankie Moradinni 

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

Report Date

06 May 2021

Primary Location

Sharn