Chapter 2: Stalking the Syndicate
The party has just ransacked a hideout inhabited by members of the Vellen Crime Syndicate when as they are leaving are approached by three remaining bandits who are suddenly killed. They are greeted warmly by those responsible: the old, minotaur druid Mundrin Brighthorn and his Marauders...
Session 4: Day 6-8
1/6/2022 - 1/8/2022 The first to greet the party is Leena Balwenys, the sister of Sharieth Balwenys, who is visiting Skiple to check up on her sister after she got word of the violent attacks. She tells the party that her sister mentioned sending the group to this location. So she and her companions went to investigate and insure more deaths did not occur like the other adventurers sent to Skiple. Upon recognizing Jacob as the one who saved her sister from the troubles in Danrest, she embraces and thanks him for protecting her. Mundrin shows excitement in encountering Juan, claiming he has not seen another minotaur in many years. The Marauders accompany the party back to Skiple, where Mundrin expresses his excitement further by paying for the party's accommodations and drink for the night. His true motive is to share a conversation with Juan, where he reveals that he is the last of the Brighthorn Tribe. Jacob accompanies Leena back to Sharieth's house, where they engage in conversation. When Jacob expresses interest in Leena's Nature Cleric abilities she enthusiastically begins telling him about the ethereal energy that streams beneath the surface of the planet, connecting flora across Encopia, commonly referred to as the Tangle. As conversation dulls, Jacob offers the sisters some Bull Cap which upsets Leena but entices Sharieth. After some light coercion in private, Sharieth tries a little. The next morning, the party briefly run into the third Marauder - Udeac Duskback, Master of the Iron Fist - who has a large, iron gauntlet smelted directly onto his hand as a cultural rite identifying him as defender of his people. He is a dwarf of very few words and thus offers the party an awkwardly large, metallic thumbs-up as means of greeting them. The party proceeds to Dalyla Hope's office to report the outcome from the bandit camp, and come up with a plan to get on her good-side and pry her for leverage against Collum McThom. They successfully charm her which leads her to reveal that Collum said he got his scar from "some demon panther cat striking out at him from the darkness" and that he does, in fact, have a mother. They also convince her to ease up on her tough governance over "The Skipping Pole" operating in her town. She rewards them with 200 gp, they exchange Sending Stone contact information with her and leave. They then report in to Collum who, despite their harassment of him and his disappointment in Dalyla allegedly having a large role in the outcome, thanks them for taking care of the problem in Skiple. The party attempt to convince him that the inhabitants of the fort and those responsible for the attacks were just "normal bandits," which Collum does not buy. He is certain there is something more going on, and urges the party to continue forward with the lead they found and he will be sending some guards to investigate the remains of the storehouse. The party did not tell him the Vellen Syndicate is involved. Finally the party decide to chart a wagon to Northbrid, where they think Berod Anvilbelly can help decipher the encrypted ledger they found in the storehouse - and possibly "persuade" him into telling the party what the hell went wrong with the heist that got them in this mess. Mundrin approaches them and requests to travel with the party, expressing his desire to converse more with Juan. He pays for the wagon and they all set off for Northbrid. 2 days into their journey, they hear an agonizing scream and savage laughter coming from the forest flanking the trail. The party and Mundrin go to investigate and find an Orc encampment - who have someone tied to a tree and are using them as target practice. They scout the encampment, and debate their tactics over a lot of whiskey and painful screams. They land on a plan to light the tents with a Firebolt to cause a distraction...Session 5: Day 9-10
1/9/2022 - 1/10/2022 The party engages the camp of orcs but when Quinby fires his cross bow at the Orc Chief it sends him and the other orcs into a blood rage. The Chief charges Quinby and strikes him down in a single blow. Jacob rushes to his rescue by creating an elaborate illusion of Quinby's ghost to distract the Chief, which enrages him further. Mundrin hears the Kender's screams and hurries to heal him, saving him from death. Meanwhile, Juan and Olati are funneling the remaining orcs into a bottleneck at the camp's entrance. While Juan is pinned down by wolves, Olati steps up and nimbly parries all the charging orcs as they recklessly attack. Jacob makes his way back towards the party but not before fatally blasting the Orc Chief who is still grappling with the illusory spirit of Quinby. Mundrin is noticeably impressed but also determined not to have some young whipper-snapper best him. As the group slowly pick off the remaining enemies, Mundrin call upon a powerful Moonbeam to obliterate the congested group in the bottle neck. The last two orcs are taken out by Juan and Zocra as they go to flee. Unfortunately, the party was unable to save the man tied to the tree in time. Quinby expresses that the poor man did not deserve his fate and should be given a proper burial. This moves Mundrin and so he helps the kind Kender bury the unlucky stranger. The party search the camp to find that one of the orc archers was wearing Bracers of Archery, which Zocra gladly claims. They then return to their journey to Northbrid, where Jacob brews some Golba Bean tea to charm Berod with when they arrive. The next day, they make their way straight to Berod's tavern, "The Loud Pegasus." The dwarf appears nervous to see them and says he is concerned they have come for payment from the botched job, which he cannot provide. Juan and Jacob bring him into a back room and demand he decipher the ledger for the party, provide board for the night, and tell them what he knows about the Syndicate. Jacob slips him some of the charming liquid, which effectively makes Berod comply with their demands. He says he can decipher the ledger by nightfall and that he honestly had no idea what went wrong with the job or that the Syndicate was involved. While the dwarf is working and Juan guards him, Mundrin takes the time to inquire about the other party member's lives. He agrees with Jacob that the world is a harsh place and one must do what needs to be done to survive. He empathizes with Zocra about the loneliness the life of a wanderer can bring. He encourages Olati to chase his dream. Finally, when Quinby shares his carefree and light-spirited outlook on life free from despair, Mundrin goes quiet and withdraws into his thoughts. Pensively he laments that those feelings are not so easy to brush off for him. They all spend the rest of the evening getting properly drunk - especially Mundrin - until Berod uncovers something in the ledger. He shows Juan that the Syndicate has been smuggling goods from all over - Fire Thistle seeds from Mitfordia, Golba Beans from Reavia, Minotaur horns from the graves in The Great Plains, and more - and transporting them north using temporary camps as storage until they all reach a central location which is directly north of Northbrid. It seems this place is of some great importance to the Syndicate...Session 6: Day 11
1/11/2022 The party wakes up in Berod's tavern and Jacob demands breakfast from the dwarf, who obliges but is growing impatient with being ordered around. Mundrin is woken up from his drunken stupor by Juan waving a plate of bacon in his face, he thanks him and goes outside to smoke a pipe after the meal. Quinby and Jacob follow, where they encounter him planting a seed and using a little drudic magic to grow some grass and beautiful flowers. When questioned by Quinby, the minotaur replies that he "likes to bring nature to all the places he visits." The curious Kender digs up what Mundrin has planted and finds it to be one of the party's fire thistle seeds, he then replants the seed and goes back inside. As he finishes his pipe and returns inside, Mundrin talks to Juan and thanks him for the opportunity to travel with the party and converse with another Minotaur. However, he will not be joining the party on their journey to the Syndicate hideout because he is awaiting his companions to join him in Northbrid and he is way, way too hungover. The two part way by exchanging Sending Stone contact information and Mundrin's hopes that they will cross paths again soon. As the party goes to leave, Berod hands the deciphered ledger to Jacob to which he has added detailed maps and translations which read almost like a poem:Hundred Minotaur horns to main locationThey then follow the maps in the ledger to the hideout, which is a very short hike north into the woods. Along the way, Jacob spots some tracks he is familiar with and identifies that they belong to an owlbear; which he later uses to his advantage in frightening some enemies. The group stop when they notice a suspicious tree that turns out to be a trap. Zocra approaches and two goblins guards attack. The group easily defeats them and continue into the woods instead of taking the main path towards a dilapidated house on the opposite hill. Which is fortunate for the party as they avoid further traps and get the jump on more goblin guards. All of them appear to be run of the mill bandits with no particular identifying features, just like the fort close to the shore by Skiple. Once all of the opposing goblins are killed, the group start to investigate the barn by the cabin and find a trap door leading further underground - and a very large spider which Juan squashes jumping down into the hole. Perhaps ironically, Jacob identifies some Slippers of Spider Climbing found in the very same room. Now that they know the way into what is most likely the Syndicate's real hideout, they decide to first check out the cabin. The party searches the house and find a very plain looking bag that is revealed to be a Bag of Holding once Juan sticks his hand far deeper than what the bag should allow. The only item found in the bag is a deck of cards, which Jacob gleefully recognizes as a Deck of Illusions - an item he played with as a kid and ignited his passion for Illusion magic. Juan checks the upstairs of the adjoining tower and discovers an interesting looking amulet and a half drunk mug of stale ale. Jacob scolds the minotaur for his careless handling of the amulet before taking a swig from the mug and feels it's contents charming effects towards Juan. The party is now set on exploring whatever may be under the seemingly inconspicuous cabin...
Inspect for damage before delivery
Three hundred pounds of seeds to shore location
Hold for buyer
Expect prompt payment
Recurring customer
Establish next delivery
Remainder to delinquent buyer
Outstanding balance to collect
Locate buyer
Authorized to use force
No negotiations
Do not accept alternative payment
Session 7: Day 11
1/11/2022 The party delve into the hidden caverns beneath the cabin and thoroughly search all its cambers and paths, only encountering a handful of easily spotted traps and not an single enemy. When they reach the final and largest chamber they find more of the same - nothing. No Hero Dust, no illicit goods, and no obvious signs of the Syndicate. Only a single, bland chest. But when Jacob goes to open it he is interrupted by a secret door opening at the end of the room and the ginormous form of Mach E. Vellen enters. Juan smashes him over the head with his warhammer, improbably pounding it into his body and knocking him dead in one blow. As the group approaches the seemingly dead Don of the Syndicate, out pop two goblins in jester outfits and argue between each other that they have not “wasted enough time yet.” A chaotic, confusing, and downright frustrating battle ensues. The more mouthy jester, Zort, has one of his legs ripped off from a botched teleportation and is ran through when the more timid jester, Vort, some how magically transfers a brutal goring from Juan’s horns to his partner’s body. But it isn’t until Olati melts his mind that Zort is finally defeated and his mangled body folds into itself, disappearing with a faint, audible “POP.” Vort, too afraid to continue on his own, also disappears by folding into himself with the same "POP." With the annoying jesters gone, Jacob finally opens the chest to reveal its contents - his childhood spell book, marked with notes and a magical cypher added to the final page with a note: “Here’s a freebie.” He conceals the book’s origins from the group, and just when all is quiet again they hear a voice coming from outside the cabin above them. The voice announces himself to be Theo Magath, a magistrate for the Kingdom, and that he has Collum in custody for treason and conspiracy with the Syndicate. Having the hideout surrounded, he demands that the four adventurers Collum was colluding with, and any other Syndicate members in the hideout, turn themselves in and promises a swift, merciful death in return. The group make use of the secret passages they discovered to evade the soldiers entering the hideout and successfully sneak past the others searching for them in the woods. It is then that the stealthy Tabaxi Izumi reveals herself from the shadows and offers to lead the party to safety. Free and clear from the search parties, she tells them that she is a member of Night Watch sent by Dalyla to track Theo and find the party before he does. Also, even though Dalyla trusts the group, Izumi still wants to determine whether they are who they claim to be or actually Syndicate spies tying up loose ends like Theo claims. They are able to convince her they are not spies and so she offers them sanctuary at her camp, but is still expecting further explanation. At the camp they meet the leader of Night Watch Epon Dorash who Jacob antagonizes to Epon’s frustration. Sensing the party might be a bit cranky from today’s events, Izumi suggests everyone get some rest for the night and return to conversation in the morning…Continuing from Chapter 1: Busted
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